Green was not so benevolent when the two faced off on a wing Saturday.

Green kicked his leg in the air and his foot caught Chriss’ right pinky to where Chriss had to run to head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson to set it.

“It’s kind of funny that it happens so much,” Chriss said of Green’s kicks, like Thursday’s boot to James Harden’s head. “I was frustrated at the time but just move on from it. It happens. It’s easy to avoid. In hindsight, you don’t have to kick your leg up in the air as frequently as it’s happening. It’s just something that needs to be addressed.”

Beal, who scored 34 points in Saturday’s loss to Miami, had nine in the first quarter, seven in the second, 12 in the third and 14 in the fourth. He shot 14 for 22 and hit five of his 10 3-point attempts.

“He can be one of the best two-way players in the league, and my job is to continue to push him to strive for greatness,” (head coach Scott) Brooks said.

“It takes a lot of energy. It takes a lot of inner drive and determination, but I think he has the ability to be that player.”

“We’re trying to win a championship, you don’t do that simply by outscoring people,” coach Steve Kerr said.

Thompson shot 11 for 18 also with five 3s and scored 14 of his points in the fourth, while Draymond Green finished with 14 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as Golden State overcame 16 turnovers for 18 Suns points.

Eric Bledsoe and T.J. Warren scored 20 points apiece to lead six players in double figures for the Suns, who hardly looked sluggish in the second night of a back-to-back. […] “You can’t let them shoot 50 percent from the field,” Thompson said. “If we want to get where we want to go, we have to pick it up on that side of the ball.”

After leading by 18 points early, it shouldn’t have been so close at the end, Lillard said.

“We talk about just being able to play the way we want to play for longer spans of time,” he said. “We’ll play really well for seven minutes, and then in four minutes we’ll give up a 15-2 run and give up everything we just worked for. We got to continue to work on that. The good thing is, we’re able to find a way to win games while we work on it.”

Bledsoe finished with 31 points and Booker had 23. […] “It’s not tough for us to come back, we come back a lot,” Suns coach Earl Watson said. “That’s what we do. Our team is really close and we have a lot of belief.”

The Suns inserted gave Booker the starting two-guard spot this season—his second in the L—and he’s excelling.

Per Bleacher Report:

Over the summer, (head coach Earl) Watson described the baby-faced guard as “an old soul in a young heart.” Before an early-season loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, he talked about Booker as “the biggest part of who we are”—even though the youngster sat out that game with a toe injury.

That’s a lot to put on anyone’s plate, let alone that of someone who’s not yet old enough to order a beer.

“I always knew I was capable of this,” Booker said. “I didn’t know I’d get this opportunity this early, but I knew I’d have my opportunity. And when it came, I wasn’t looking back.”

“They’re more mature than I think a lot of people would guess or give them credit for,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “. . . We had a big lead after the first quarter because of the way we defended. That shows that these guys want to win, they’re engaged.

“I don’t have expectations. I came into this job with an open mind. They’ve proven, they haven’t shown me anything to say that they’re immature other than the age of a lot of them. They’ve come to work every single day since we’ve been here, even before training camp. Their actions speak loud. They’re grown men that are in this to get better and to be as good as they can.”

Nick Young led the Lakers with 22 points and seven rebounds. He was also tasked with cooling off Suns guard Devin Booker, who caught fire late in the fourth quarter. Booker finished the game with 39 points — 29 in the second half. He helped the Suns make a late push that had them within one point with five minutes to play.

The 37-year-old bench boss believes it’s counter-productive to fraternize with players on other teams.

Per the AZ Republic:

Watson has many relationships in the NBA but he makes it clear that he “could care less” about them once it is game day against them. Case in point, he said he did not talk Friday to Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, who he has mentored since he was at UCLA.

“We respect the other team but it’s not an admirational game,” Watson said. “We don’t admire them so much, like, ‘One day we want to be like them.’ I don’t even like our guys to follow other guys on Twitter. This Twitter friend, Instagram friend, let’s cut them off. Say hit to them in the summer.”

“We are not clicking and everybody can see that,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “It will come but the main thing while we are going through this process is to continue to compete and try to pick up wins.”

The Warriors didn’t seal the victory until Curry’s two free throws with 12.9 seconds to play. Durant added a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to provide the final margin.

Durant was 15 of 16 at the line. […] “I was just taking what the defense was giving me,” he said. “If you play me straight up, I like my chances. I try to get there (the foul line) as much as possible. My guys were setting great screens for me and I was able to get downhill some.”

The Suns did not dress Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight, P.J. Tucker or John Jenkins for precautionary health reasons and Tucker’s back rehabilitation but did ride Eric Bledsoe’s and Devin Booker’s scoring on a 26-10 run that made winning feasible after a horrible start.

Goodwin spun away from second-round draft pick Marcus Paige and took off from the bottom of the dotted free throw circle for a driving slam over Mack’s hopeless help for a 111-110 lead with 3.3 seconds to go.

“I was looking to be aggressive,” said Goodwin, who also hit a game-winning shot last season against Atlanta. “If they would’ve gave me the 3, I would’ve took it, But they were so far up, it was easy for me to go to the lane and get a layup fast. […] I can get to the rim anytime. It’s not about the time or who’s in front of me. That doesn’t bother me. It’s just about getting the opportunity. When I get the opportunity, I tried to take advantage of it.”

Watson believes the team that hi-fives frequently, plays and works well together.

Per the team website:

The Suns topped the Spurs in points, blocks, and rebounds in their preseason opener on Monday night, but there is one other stat to keep an eye on as the season unfolds. […] “We have a high-five stat,” Head Coach Earl Watson said following the 91-86 victory. “I’m being honest with you. This is true. So we want to keep track of how many high-fives we get per game to each other.”

Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley, in 2015 took one game of every NBA team at the start of the year and coded all of the fist bumps, embraces and high fives. […] “Controlling for how much money they’re making, the expectations that they would do well during that season, how well they we’re doing in that game,” Keltner said. “Not only did they win more games but there’s really nice basketball statistics of how selfless the play is.”

Keltner found that the teams that made more contact with each other were helping out more on defense, setting more screens, and overall playing more efficiently and cooperatively.

Watson says that Knight—who’s been on three teams over five seasons—will be the Suns’ most important player in 2016-17.

Per the AZ Republic:

“It’s definitely a sacrifice,” said Knight, using one of Watson’s key tenets for the season. “We all have to do it to try to make the team better. Like I said, this is part of it. As long as I’m going out and remaining positive and trying to lift the team up and we’re winning games, that’s what you want to be part of – a winning situation.”

“I respect Earl,” Knight said. “Earl did an excellent job of letting me know ahead of time. Earl is a straight-forward, honest guy and I love him for that. That’s the reason I want to play for Earl because a lot of coaches wouldn’t handle it that way. I appreciate the way Earl handled it and I respect him a lot for that.”

“It’s a different skill,” Watson said of Knight learning to come off the bench. “He’s good enough that he’ll pick it up. Once he feels that flow, he’ll feel a natural rhythm to the game. Anytime you accept that role as a professional and you accept it for the betterment of the team. We call this thing, ‘Leaving it at the door. It’s all about we.’ Everyone talks about it but until you actually have to do it, I don’t think there’s any better sign of leadership on any team in any sport.”

Preparing for his sixth NBA season and fifth with the Suns, Tucker is a four-time winner of the team’s Majerle Hustle Award. In 2015-16, he averaged 8.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, a career-high 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals while playing all 82 games (80 starts).

The Suns begin training camp in Flagstaff on Sept. 27, their first preseason game is Oct. 3 and their regular season opener is Oct. 26.

The basketball world is celebrating Shaquille O’Neal’s remarkable NBA career ahead of his Hall of Fame enshrinement later this week—the League put out some footage to remind everyone of just what a force of nature The Diesel was.

“Shaq, I think had he had the same focus as Kobe could have been the best ever,” said Del Harris, the L.A. coach the first two-plus seasons of the Bryant-O’Neal pairing. “I really think he had those capabilities. However, his personality being as it was really gave him a breadth of personality and everything that has really stood him well. The guy can do anything. He’s a natural comedian. He’s a natural actor. He’s smart. And he had a wonderful career. Four championships.

“I’d say looking back on this, though, and I wrote this in my book ‘On Point’ that I believed if somehow he and Kobe could have formed a similar relationship that Magic [Johnson] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] had that they would have won any number of championships. I don’t know that number, but it was more than four. They won three together and three more separately. That’s six and I’ve got to think that they would have won six, seven, eight (together). I really don’t know who would have stopped them. They were that good….”

“I want to be remembered as one of the most dominant players to ever play the game,” (O’Neal) said. “The word ‘best’ is thrown around a lot, especially these days with the social media, but ‘most dominant’ is not really thrown around a lot. There are only two guys that really, really dominated the league. Wilt was one and I think I was the other, and that time was good enough for me. […] Just coming in, being able to make an immediate impact, doing it my way, having a couple controversial endings in certain places but still being able to make a lot of noise and win when a lot of people didn’t expect us to win. The way I came in, the way I ended is storybook. First pick, almost made it (to the title with the Magic), starts all over, goes to another team, has problems, Zen Master comes in, and wins three in a row. Young prince wants to take out the young king, they kill him, but they didn’t kill him. He was found on the shore of Miami by another king of the East, Pat Riley, he wins again, and then has problems, he gets traded, traded, traded, he’s getting older, and then he has a career-ending injury. It’s like a book. An excellent book at that.”

As he sits down to do his first-ever (as in, dude was never even in PUNKS) interview with SLAM, 18-year-old Marquese Chriss (he turned 19 on July 2) kicks things off by asking questions. Polite ones. Inquisitive ones. “Where y’all based?” “Do you travel a lot?” “Interview a lot of people?” “How do you like it?” Etc etc.

It’s a line of questioning I’m used to…from high school kids interested in journalism careers. Not from a dude who was days away from being selected in the Lottery by the Phoenix Suns.

Most young prospects these days are as media-savvy as political candidates, often from age 15 or 16 and up. That’s what happens when the ESPNs, Scouts and, well, SLAMs of the world are watching you develop and play and sticking phones in your face all the time. Chriss is a different case. A “late-bloomer,” as they say.

“I first started playing organized basketball when I was 14,” says the 6-10, 233-pound (numbers that can still grow!) Chriss, who hails from Sacramento. “I always played football so basketball kind of came later for me. I would play for fun, like, at the park, but I never took it serious until my sophomore year of high school.”

Obviously, in this day and age, that is awfully late. Many American kids pick a sport to “specialize” in by age 12. European players with promise are typically in pro-style academies by 14.

Marquese Chriss was playing his first game at that age.

“At first I was still kind of playing for fun because I couldn’t play football anymore. And then I got moved up to varsity during my sophomore year and it kind of became more real.”

The realness only grew from there. Playing at Pleasant Grove High, Chriss learned to harness his athleticism and became well-known enough that Pac-12 schools showed interest. As he played the game more, he also watched more, too, which was pretty easy in a one-sport town that loves its hometown Kings. “I went to a lot of Kings games with my friends but I decided not to have a favorite team,” remembers Chriss, who ultimately committed to the University of Washington with little fanfare. “I did have a favorite player, though—Rudy Gay. He’s interesting to watch and I enjoyed watching his highlights and things like that.”

Following high school, Chriss migrated north, where Lorenzo Romar’s Huskies haven’t always had the best win-loss record, but talent keeps cultivating. Chriss was considered a project even on the college level, and there were certainly games when his inexperience showed, but on balance, Chriss’ freshman year was a resounding success. Playing alongside freshman PG Dejounte Murray (scooped up late in the first round by the Spurs), Chriss averaged 13.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg and 0.9 spg in just 25 minutes a night, hitting 53 percent of his shots from the field.

“You look at him, and he is immensely talented,” Romar told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM after the Draft. “He’s so athletic. He can step outside to shoot the basketball. He plays with a lot of fluidity. One day in practice he took off with two feet right in front of the free-throw line. One of our players was trying to take a charge and he just made a wicked, wicked dunk on him. He made some eye-opening plays.”

The Huskies went just 19-15, but Chriss showed so much potential that he was quickly faced with a decision even he had not expected so soon. “When I went to college, I didn’t think I was going to leave after one year. It was [going to be] more like a development thing,” he says. “However, it happened quicker.”

No kidding. And once Chriss threw his name in the proverbial Draft ring, his rep only got bigger. “I think my stock rose because people have gotten a chance to see me,” he says. “I think playing in the Pac-12, we didn’t get as much publicity. I just think I have a better opportunity now that I’m kind of in my own light.”

For sure, as we witness after the interview, Chriss looks good in workouts. Even in an age of face-up forwards who can do a little of everything, it’s still unusual to see a well-built 6-10 dude flick threes one second and explode to the rim for a showy jam the next.

Draft night arrives a few weeks after we sit down with Marquese, and his ascension continues to the point that there’s rumors he’ll go as high as No. 3. He ends up being selected on behalf of the Phoenix Suns at No. 8. If there are any concerns about his maturity (shit, maybe being a polite kid who hasn’t been jaded by the underbelly of “amateur” hoops in this country is a positive, anyway), they are more than outweighed by the excitement of what a kid like this can turn into once he’s spent more than four years really playing the game. (Out in Las Vegas forSummer League, MC posted averages of 10 points and 9 rebounds per game for the Suns.)

And Chriss will be excited, too. “It’s gonna feel surreal playing in the NBA. It’s going to be different, people are going to be looking at you that way. Like younger kids are thinking of you how you thought of other people and it’s going to be a cool experience.”

You can bet some of those kids will have questions for him, and it says here that Chriss will answer them with a smile.

Devin Booker isn’t talking about his shot on this mid-May afternoon, though he was a little rusty down on the Phoenix Suns practice court.

It’s been one month since the Suns played their last game of the 2015-16 season. One week since the 19-year-old returned from the beaches of Cancun. One day since he was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First-Team.

Yet here Booker is, cautiously slipping into the 53-degree water of a cool tub inside the team’s clubhouse after working up a serious sweat, back in the gym where he plans to spend the rest of his “off” season. That is, when he’s not doing Pilates or hiking Piestewa Peak with his PHX fam.

“I’m done with vacations for the summer,” he says, elbows resting on the lip of the tub, settling in for a 20-minute cool down.

You see, the youngest player in the NBA this past season was already looking ahead to next season, even while the Warriors, Thunder, Cavs and Raptors were still fighting it out in the Conference Finals for the right to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.

While he had the best rookie run seen in the desert since Amar’e Stoudemire in 2002-03, averaging 13.8 points, 2.6 assists and 2.5 boards a game while shooting 38 percent from three-point range, Booker is far from satisfied with the All-Rookie recognition.

“Being the only guard on there, that was kind of a big deal to me,” he says of joining one of his closest friends, Wolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, along with Sixers center Jahlil Okafor, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis on the honor roll.

“It just shows me that I’m on the right path, but there’s a lot of people who have made First-Team All-Rookie and you don’t know where they’re at anymore. So I just have to use this as motivation to keep grinding, because I know that it comes with a bigger target on my back.”

While he’s not quite right about a “lot” of first teamers having gone MIA—all but four in the last decade were still in the League in 2015-16—you have to love his mindset. But a few other lists he added his name to during his first season may be more indicative of what success lies ahead.

For one, Book became just the sixth player in League history to record 1,000 points as a teenager, following in the young footsteps and singular names of KD, Dwight, LeBron, Carmelo and Kobe.

Booker became the second-youngest player (behind LeBron) ever to hand out 11 assists in a game, and was the first teen since King James to throw 30s up on the scoreboard in back-to-back contests, after mid-season injuries to the Suns’ backcourt opened up minutes.

Moving into the starting lineup in late December, he blew up like fireworks entering the new year, collecting the most 30-point games by a rookie (six) since Blake Griffin in 2010-11.

In other words, the kid more than proved he belongs.

“I never had that worry in my mind about Devin succeeding in the NBA,” KAT said after a March reunion with his fellow Kentucky alum, who flew under the radar in a reserve role with that “Blue Magic” squad (word to SLAM 187). “Whatever team he was going to get drafted to, they were getting a winner and one of the best shooters in this league, possibly that we’ll ever see.”

It wasn’t his shooting percentages, his numbers or the elite company he joined that Booker will remember most from the past 12 months. It was a series of specific moments that he had been looking forward to since he was a child wearing a homemade paper mask, pretending to be Rip Hamilton in his Grand Rapids, MI, driveway.

Moments like his NBA debut on October 28, 2015 against Dallas.

“I got in late and we were down a lot, but it felt like I was in a video game,” he says with a smile, recalling the years playing NBA 2K on Xbox. “You know, growing up, where you play My Career? You go through that whole draft process and then you finally get in a game for the first time…It was crazy.”

The crazy moments continued in his second professional game, just two nights later. It was his 19th birthday, but he was just a guest at a party for one of greatest players to ever wear the purple and orange.

Born just three days before two-time MVP Steve Nash made his NBA debut as a Suns rookie in November of ’96, Booker was inspired seeing the reaction and emotion from Phoenix fans, not to mention legends like Charles Barkley, Paul Westphal and Walter Davis, who were in attendance for Nash’s induction into the club’s Ring of Honor.

“It’s bigger than basketball,” Booker explains. “He’s affected so many lives, not only here in America, but in Canada, too, and all over the world. It’s just unbelievable what you can do, just playing this sport…and at the same time, earn everybody’s respect to get all of those Hall of Famers back here to support him.”

Ever envision yourself going into that Ring?

“Definitely,” he answers, without hesitation. “I love it in Phoenix and I want to be one of those guys that gets drafted by one team and stays there the whole time. You know, they turn around the franchise, and they get love for that in that city like they’re the mayor…People still wear Steve Nash jerseys here. That’s definitely something I want to be.”

If jersey sales in the Suns team shop in ’15-16 are any indication, Phoenix fans will love the picture their new star guard paints in that last quote. Go ahead, read it again.

Speaking of reading, if Booker had kept a diary during his rookie season, and didn’t mind us taking a peek, there would be several pages dedicated to All-Star Weekend. Replacing an injured Nerlens Noel on the roster, he scored 23 points in the Rising Stars Challenge.

Then, at the Three-Point Shootout, the young Sun had both Drake and Spike Lee jumping out of their courtside seats at Air Canada Centre, as he shot his way into the finals against the Splash Bros.

“I don’t notice those moments until it’s over and rewatch it,” he says. “When I’m in that moment, I’m so competitive. I’m like, I’m better than them. I don’t care who they are. I’m going to win this!

“But Steph and Klay are arguably going to go down as the best shooting backcourt ever. So that was a pretty big deal to be in the finals with those two.”

The respect is mutual.

“Is he only 19?” a shocked Thompson asked after a mid-season matchup with the Suns. “He doesn’t play like it. He plays under a lot of control. Beautiful shot. Underrated athlete. He’s going to be a really good player in this league for a long time.”

Those types of soundbites became more and more common as the season went on, whether from his peers, his teammates or the media. But there was no praise higher than the compliments that came from Kobe, one of his idols growing up.

Early in his final game in Phoenix, Mamba found himself matched up with the Suns’ youngster, who, once again, didn’t shy away from the challenge. Catching the ball on the block, Booker immediately turned and shot Bryant’s patented fadeaway jumper, although he missed.

“He went straight to my move,” Kobe laughed in the post-game presser. “The first time he caught it! You’re not going to beat me on my move, man! But it was great to see. It was absolutely great to see. I remember, I did the same thing with MJ.

“I think he’s fantastic. He has the right attitude. He has the right competitive spirit.”

Of course, not every defining moment from his rookie season was as positive as his meet-up with Kobe. Along with all the highs for Booker came a few lows. There were games in which opposing defenses were more physical and focused specifically on him. The losses, all 59 of them, were never fun to deal with.

But Suns head coach Earl Watson was pleased with Book’s attitude in crunch time moments as a rookie.

“He’s 19 and he’s never afraid,” says Watson. “That’s what I love about him. He wants it. You have a lot of players in this league that say they want it, but when they get the chance to get it, they really don’t want it. You can just see it. You can feel it. But this kid really wants it.”

Booker has big goals. Just like the list he wrote down as a kid—make the high school team, make varsity, earn a college scholarship—he knows what he wants, even if he won’t come right out and share it. It’s personal. But you can see the desire in his eyes, and you can hear the passion in his voice.

“There’s just something about basketball that always keeps me driving,” he says. “If you don’t want to win Championships, if you don’t want to be the best player in the NBA, if you don’t want to be a future MVP, I don’t feel like there’s a reason to play.

“I’ve always had that competitive nature to where I want to be the best at what I do. I want to go down as one of the greatest. I know it’s far-fetched, but just to be the best player to have ever touched a basketball.”

Locked away in a safe in his home, Devin has a pair of Nikes that were given to him by Kobe. They are autographed with instructions that perhaps best sum up his ultimate goal: “Be Legendary.”

The legend of Devin Armani Booker is growing fast in Phoenix, but not just because he looks to be a star in the not-too-distant future. His fans love his contagious smile and off-court style, his toughness and on-court intensity. His teammates love his sense of humor and unselfishness. And everyone loves his heart.

That’s D-Book. Just a rook—at least until the day the 2016-17 season tips off, his vets tell him. Already, he’s one of the coolest players in the NBA. And not just because he spent the last half-hour in the tub.

The 33-year-old ended up inking a ceremonial contract with the New York Knicks and retiring.

Per the AZ Republic:

“The last two years, we made phone calls to Phoenix but I wasn’t getting any positive response,” Stoudemire said on Thursday. “That would’ve been the perfect way to go out. I didn’t want to beg Phoenix. My heart was in two places – Phoenix and New York. I just went where I was wanted.”

This summer, the Suns drafted power forwards Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss and then signed Jared Dudley, Stoudemire’s former Suns teammate, to be their starting power forward. […] “They brought back Jared and Leandro, my boys,” Stoudemire said. “That would’ve been a heck of a way to finish. I wasn’t just going to keep knocking on someone’s door that wasn’t going to answer. I love my fans in Phoenix. Most of my high times and highlights were in Phoenix. I put forth the effort to finish my career in Phoenix but it wasn’t well-received.”

Stoudemire, 33, has not ruled out playing professionally in a foreign league, perhaps in China or Israel, but he said he already has enjoyed how retirement will give him more time with his wife, Alexis, and their four children and for new surprising endeavors. […] “I’m at peace with it because I gave everything that I had,” Stoudemire said. “It took a while. The game is such a beautiful game. I was truly in love with it but there were no teams who needed my position.”

The six-time All-Star played for four teams, winning Rookie of the Year honors and pulverizing defenders anywhere near the hoop until his knees betrayed him.

Per the AP:

Stoudemire retired Tuesday after signing a contract with the Knicks with much less fanfare than the $100 million deal he inked six years ago to halt the team’s downward spiral.

Still just 33 years old but with knees that hadn’t been healthy in years, the 6-foot-10 forward asked team president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills to add another signing to the ones they hope will lead to the first playoff berth since Stoudemire left. […] “I came to New York in 2010 to help revitalize this franchise and we did just that,” Stoudemire said. “Carmelo (Anthony), Phil and Steve have continued this quest, and with this year’s acquisitions, the team looks playoff-bound once again.”

Stoudemire was the No. 9 pick in the 2002 draft and averaged 21.4 points in eight seasons with the Suns, teaming with point guard (Steve) Nash to help them become the NBA’s most potent offense. Stoudemire had just led the Suns to the 2010 Western Conference finals before joining his former coach there, Mike D’Antoni, in New York. […] “As the 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year and a five-time All-Star during his time in Phoenix, Amare’s eight seasons with our franchise provided some of the most exciting Suns basketball this city has ever seen,” the Suns said in a statement.

Devin Booker is getting work in this summer at the Vegas Summer League and yesterday afternoon, the Suns shooting guard went off against the Blazers. Dropping 28 points to go along with 8 boards and 6 dimes, the 20-year-old showed his expanded game as he put in work both on the perimeter and in the post. Teaming up with his Kentucky teammate Tyler Ulis and first round picksMarquese Chriss and Dragan Bender, Booker led the squad to an 86-73 win. Peep the highlights above.

The second year of the contract includes only half a million of guaranteed money for the 33-year-old.

Per the AZ Republic:

Barbosa will be the Suns’ second-oldest player (57 days younger than Tyson Chandler) and gives the Suns 13 guaranteed contracts, including five other guards – Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Archie Goodwin, Brandon Knight and Tyler Ulis.

Barbosa played his first seven NBA seasons with the Suns after they made a draft-night deal with San Antonio to get him at No. 28 in 2003, when he asked to sleep in the Suns locker room on his first visit.

Barbosa agreed to join the Suns four days after Jared Dudley, his Suns’ 2010 Western Conference finals teammate, became the Suns’ first free-agency addition Friday night. Barbosa also played with Goodwin, Alex Len and P.J. Tucker in 2014, when he arrived after Eric Bledsoe underwent season-ending knee surgery.

Joining Shaq, The Answer and Yao in the HOF are 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, the first African-American coach in a professional league John McLendon and four-time WNBA Champion Sheryl Swoopes.

The party will take place September 8-10 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

From the press release:

Distinguished committees focused on preserving all areas from the game also selected four directly elected members. They include Zelmo Beaty from the Veterans Committee, Yao Ming from the International Committee, Cumberland Posey from the Early African American Pioneers Committee and Jerry Reinsdorf from the Contributor Committee.

To be elected, North American and Women’s Committee finalists must receive 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Direct elect committees are incorporated into the election process to maintain a strong focus on keeping history on the forefront of the voting procedures and to preserve a balance between two eras of basketball.

“The Class of 2016 is big in stature, personality and impact,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board. “These ten inductees have each contributed to the game in their own meaningful way and we are very pleased to honor them in Springfield.”

“What I liked about tonight is we came out early and took care of business,” Wade said.

Rookie guard Devin Booker kept the Suns in the game, scoring 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. Alex Len had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Phoenix, which tied a club record by losing its 17th consecutive road game.

Booker received high praise from Wade after the game, and the rookie sounded somewhat humbled. […] “Obviously, Dwyane’s a living legend, everyone knows that, especially when he’s here in Wade County,” Booker said. “I try to take that challenge and try to have fun with it. Those are the games I live for — people I grew up watching. Now I get a chance to play against them.”

Thomas was agitating for a bigger role, something the Suns weren’t willing to accommodate.

Per Arizona Sports:

“I think in retrospect trading Isaiah Thomas when we did was a mistake,” he said of last season’s trade deadline deal with the Boston Celtics. “I think sometimes in the recruitment process things sound better in July (luring Thomas in free agency) than they do in November.

“He wanted more, he wanted a bigger role and I understand why: He’s a talented player,” McDonough added. “In retrospect, we should have carried him into the summer. If there’s one (decision) that stands out, if I could get a mulligan, that’d be it.”

Thomas made his first All-Star game with the Celtics after being dealt by Phoenix for Cleveland’s 2016 first-round draft pick and veteran guard Marcus Thornton. Phoenix didn’t keep Thornton over the summer and it’s unlikely a player taken late in the first round of this draft will be an All-Star.

Back to basketball: Phoenix dropped their ninth in a row 112-104 to the visiting Golden State Warriors.

Per the AZ Republic:

“That’s nothing,” Morris said. “That’s part of being a leader, being a big brother. Sometimes, little brothers and big brothers get into it. That’s what happened. Wrong place, wrong time. […] That’s my little brother. I’ve been here with him for three years. I know him really well. I know his family. We’re really close. It happens sometimes … Big brothers shake little brothers up some times. It don’t look good but nothing I do is going to look good.”

Goodwin wound up being the Suns’ leading scorer with 20 points in 28 minutes. Morris finished with 19 points and eight rebounds and was starting to break away from last year’s issues, including behavioral ones with a trade request and being suspended for two games for tossing a towel at former coach Jeff Hornacek. He had begun to separate himself some from the performance struggles and trade rumors with interim head coach Earl Watson putting him back in the starting lineup.

(Suns interim head coach Earl) Watson benched Goodwin and left Morris in the game. Goodwin did not return until the start of the second quarter when Morris was out of the game. The two played together later in the first half. They also gave each other a fist pound before they started the second half. […] “I go to his house all the time,” Goodwin said. “He comes to my house. We’re great friends. He’s like a brother to me. It’s just one of those situations. Family fight but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him any more or any less.”

Warren was bothered by right ankle pain during Wednesday’s loss at Cleveland but an X-ray with the Knicks staff in New York was negative so he played, having a 12-point first half but a hobbled second half. He sat out Sunday’s loss at Dallas and then had a CT scan that showed a mid-foot fracture that was causing the right ankle pain.

Warren will undergo surgery and miss the season’s final 33 games. […] Warren, the Suns’ 2014 first-round pick, has increased his production and playing time in his second season, averaging 11.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game. He was shooting 50.1 percent from the field and made a huge 3-point shooting improvement to be at 40.0 percent. He has been the Suns’ leading scorer despite coming off the bench for 43 of his 47 appearances.

The Suns are down to one small forward, starter P.J. Tucker. They can use Mirza Teletovic, Sonny Weems and Devin Booker at the spot. The Suns also have an open roster spot after Cory Jefferson’s 10-day contract expired last weekend. The Suns’ 14-man roster has four players out injured, including the team’s top three scorers.

Watson, 36, began his coaching career last season with the San Antonio Spurs’ D-League squad.

He played 13 seasons in the NBA.

From the press release:

Now the 17th head coach in franchise history, Watson joined the Suns as an assistant coach this past offseason after working last season as an assistant coach for the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League. Watson became a coach following a 13-year NBA career as a point guard in which he appeared in 878 career games with Seattle/Oklahoma City, Memphis, Denver, Indiana, Utah and Portland from 2001-2014. Watson averaged 6.4 points, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals for his career, posting highs of 10.7 points and 6.8 assists with the SuperSonics in 2007-08. Watson played for three NBA Coach of the Year Award winners throughout his 13-year career (Hubie Brown, George Karl, Scott Brooks), as well as Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan.

Prior to being selected 40th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft, the Kansas City, Kan. native was a four-year starter at UCLA, helping guide the Bruins to three Sweet 16 appearances and earning All-Pac-10 First Team honors in 2000-01.

Reportedly, Suns owner Robert Sarver had Nash high on his wish-list before Hornacek’s firing:

In his first full year of retirement, Nash had to be lobbied hard by some of his closest friends — Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Kerr’s assistant Bruce Fraser and Warriors team president Rick Welts — just to consent to the consulting position with Golden State. The arrangement with Golden State, sources say, calls for Nash to spend a few days per month with the league’s reigning champions.

Nash and Sarver still have a very strong relationship as well, as evidenced by the partnership they struck recently as part of the Sarver-led consortium that completed the purchase of Spanish Segunda Division soccer team RCD Mallorca earlier this month. Nash serves as a board member at RCD, with input on all soccer decisions. […] Yet sources say Nash, who turns 42 on Sunday, is reticent to take on bigger roles in basketball than he already has because of the time that would require him to be away from his family.

In addition to his work with the Warriors, Nash serves as the general manager for Canada’s senior men’s national team, after making his international debut for his country as a player while still in college and ultimately leading Canada to within one win of the medal round at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

The Phoenix Suns confirmed media reports Monday morning that head coach Jeff Hornacek has been fired. OFFICIAL: pic.twitter.com/8RMDjyKhpM — #WeArePHX (@Suns) February 1, 2016 The writing had been on the

Less than two years removed from being the NBA Coach of the Year runner-up to Gregg Popovich, Hornacek was fired upon the team’s early Monday return from an 0-4 road trip. […] The Suns have lost 19 of their past 21 games to be 14-35 (.286), which is tied for the NBA’s fourth-worst record and is on pace to be the franchise’s worst season since the inaugural team went 16-66 (.195).

The Suns will interview assistant coaches today before choosing an interim head coach. Corey Gaines, a former Phoenix Mercury head coach, was promoted from player development assistant to assistant coach before this season. Earl Watson and Nate Bjorkgren, a former D-League head coach, were promoted to front-row assistants on Dec. 28 following the firings of assistant coaches Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting.

The Suns were expected to contend for a playoff spot this season but are headed for a sixth consecutive non-playoff season, the longest postseason drought in franchise history. The Suns have lost 14 consecutive road games, tying for the franchise’s second-longest streak, but have been a difficult situation for Hornacek since the offseason, when his contract’s team option year for 2016-17 was not exercised and the Markieff Morris saga began with a trade request following his twin’s trade to Detroit. It only has worsened during the season with season-ending knee surgery for Eric Bledsoe and a groin injury to Brandon Knight to take out the team’s leading scorers and playmakers.

Dragic is too concerned with his own adjustments in helping Miami regain a spot among the Eastern Conference elite to be overly consumed with the situation in Phoenix. But he has his own theory for why a franchise that seemed so promising is suddenly foundering, based on his own experience with the Suns.

“It feels like they’re always changing something,” Dragic said. “They’re not like Miami, San Antonio, those teams that are really loyal when they find something.”

While claiming “no regrets” about his Suns tenure, Dragic remains disappointed by the ending, which he claims was the result of too much tinkering – primarily at point guard, a position the 6-foot-3 Slovenian had already proven he could handle. Dragic made it work after the team traded for point guard Eric Bledsoe in July 2013 and helped the Suns emerge as that overachieving darling. But Dragic was pushed away further from the ball – and inevitably, the team – the following season, when the Suns added another ball-dominant guard, Isaiah Thomas, in July. […] “Me and Bledsoe, we built really great chemistry together, we played well and the whole team did. Everybody expected that we’re going to get some big guys that we thought we needed, but they did another move, they bring in a point guard and it was tough,” Dragic said. “I was a little bit frustrated. It was tough, especially for me, because I was playing off the ball all the time, and I was guarding [small forwards]. That was tough for me, but they did what they did.”

It was a fun Sunday night all-around in SoCal—a fan won $95K by nailing a halfcourt heave …

… and Lou Williams led the way with a season-high 30 points.

Per the LA Times:

(Byron) Scott was most unhappy with Julius Randle, the only player he called out by name for his indifferent play in the fourth quarter. Randle didn’t stick around to face the media after the game either, apparently preferring not to talk about his 0-for-4 shooting night or the complaints he directed toward teammate Marcelo Huertas, who he felt didn’t get him the ball often enough in the fourth quarter.

In the end, though, the Lakers (8-27) extended their season-best winning streak to three games amid a slew of firsts. […] They allowed season lows in points in the first quarter (10), second quarter (12), first half (22) and the game.

And they did all this with Kobe Bryant sitting out for a second straight game because of a sore right shoulder, on which he received treatment right up until the start of the game.

Bledsoe previously tore a meniscus in his right knee and had it repaired in 2011. A surgery to remove the damaged meniscus in 2014 sidelined him for more than two months at almost the same juncture of the season as this injury. Then, Bledsoe missed games from Jan. 2 to March 10.

Without knowing the results after Sunday’s practice, Suns coach Jeff Hornacek only could start preparing the team for the ultimate challenge of coming off rock bottom with Saturday’s home loss to the 2-30 76ers (minus Jahlil Okafor) and going through a four-day gauntlet against three of the NBA’s top four teams – Cleveland, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. […] “We felt that all along, if something happened to one or the other, if they were missing a game or something, the other guy could be the lone point guard,” Hornacek said.

Bledsoe had been the Suns’ primary ball-handler, but that now shifts to Brandon Knight, who played almost exclusively point guard for Detroit and Milwaukee before being traded to Phoenix last season. Hornacek said rookie Devin Booker likely will be the other starting guard, as he was for the second half of his career-high 19-point game Saturday. Guard Bryce Cotton, the Tucson native, will now be on the active roster after not playing since he was signed Nov. 25 as backcourt insurance for Bledsoe’s and Knight’s health issues.

After Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek pulled Markieff Morris out of the game versus the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, the basketball player wasn’t very happy. He threw a towel at the coach and relayed a few heated words.

The Phoenix Suns have suspended forward Markieff Morris for two games for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The incident occurred during Phoenix’s 104-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. When told during the game that he hit Hornacek in the leg with the towel, Morris told his teammates he hadn’t intended to hit him, sources told Yahoo.

The two-game suspension will cost Morris $145,455 in game pay. The Suns have two home games next against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Klay Thompson had his fifth career 40-point game, leading an offense that dished out 32 assists and shot 52.3 percent from the floor, and Draymond Green had five steals to lead a defense that forced 21 turnovers and yielded only 45.1 percent shooting.

“That was a lot of fun, because when you get a stop or get a transition opportunity, you try to find (Thompson) wherever he is,” point guard Stephen Curry said. “When he gets it clicking, there’s no better thing to watch. He made some crazy shots, was attacking the rim and getting to the basket and playing efficiently.”

The Warriors (25-1), who were coming off their first loss of the season Saturday in Milwaukee, have won a franchise-record 29 consecutive regular-season games at home. They’re 11-0 at Oracle Arena this season, one win away from the franchise’s all-time home start set in 1975-76.

Knight scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter, all on 3s. He was 3 for 24 from long range in his four previous games and 0 for 13 in his last two. […] “It always feels good to see the ball go in the hoop,” Knight said. “I’m not going to change the way I’ve been playing. It was one off night, a really off night. But I’m a very confident person and my teammates always stick behind me.”

The Timberwolves committed 25 turnovers, including nine in the third quarter, which helped the Suns get out in transition and take control of the game for good. Phoenix scored 43 points off turnovers for the game. […] That total was the most points off turnovers for the Suns since the statistic was first kept in 1998, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Suns didn’t score for more than 4 minutes during the fourth quarter as Minnesota cut into a 19-point lead, but P.J. Tucker’s 3-pointer at the 7:53 mark followed by Eric Bledsoe’s steal and dunk gave Phoenix a 90-75 lead. […] Minnesota got the lead down to 104-99 on LaVine’s 3 with 35 seconds left but never got closer.

According to longtime agent Mark Bartelstein, Williams died in a Baton Rouge, La. area hospital.

Williams played nearly a decade in Cleveland after being drafted by the Cavaliers, and finished up his solid 13-year career in Phoenix and Dallas.

Per the NEOMG:

Williams was with the Cavs from 1986-93. He played on some highly successful and fondly remembered Cavs teams that made several extended playoff runs but could never quite make it to the NBA Finals. Included in that run was the loss to the Chicago Bulls in 1989, when Michael Jordan made “The Shot.” […] Those Cavs teams included Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo and Ron Harper, among others.

“John loved playing in Cleveland,” said Bartelstein. “He played a few years after leaving the Cavs, but he always thought of himself as a Cavalier.” […] Williams was especially close to Lenny Wilkens, whom he called, “Coach Lenny.” Wilkins often used Williams as a sixth man because he liked an impact player coming off the bench.

The 6-foot-11 Williams was a completely unselfish player on the court. He loved to defend, block shots and set picks. In his nine seasons with the Cavs he averaged 13 points and 7.1 rebounds, shooting 48 percent. He could play any spot in the frontcourt. […] He played three seasons in Phoenix after being traded for Dan Majerle, then closed out his NBA career with Dallas in 1998-99.

Williams made his biggest mark in the L playing for some pretty good Cavs teams throughout the mid-80s and early-90s.

Per the NEOMG:

After retiring, Williams owned a construction company. He coached little league and other youth sports in Sorrento. […] “He is loved in the community,” said (agent Mark) Bartelstein.

Bartelstein said they thought the health problems started for Williams about six months ago with prostate cancer. But then it spread and spread. He’s 53 and fighting for his life. […] “His family is with him,” said Bartelstein, his voice breaking. “It’s a very serious situation.”

“John loved playing in Cleveland,” said Bartelstein. “He played a few years after leaving the Cavs, but he always thought of himself as a Cavalier.” […] “I can never explain all that John has meant to me,” said Bartelstein. “And I know that he wants the Cavs fans to know all that they meant to him.”

The Phoenix Suns’ Mirza Teletovic didn’t wanna bother taking this game to OT. So he didn’t give up after teammate Jon Leuer’s shot missed the basket. Instead, he grabbed the board and threw the ball back to the hoop, successfully draining it into the net. Two points, and the W.

Morris is in the first season of a four-year, $32 million contract extension with the Phoenix Suns, and connecting on just 39 percent of his attempts from from the floor.

Per ESPN:

Sources said the Rockets are in the market for roster upgrades in the wake of their disappointing 10-11 start and have Morris on their list of targets, amid a growing belief around the league that the Suns are indeed prepared to finally move Morris.

The Suns initially rebuffed Morris’ summer-long quest to be dealt, with both sides pledging to try to find common ground at the start of training camp. But Morris received a DNP-Coach’s Decision on Sunday, when the Suns lost 95-93 in Memphis, which will undoubtedly signal to interested teams that Morris can be had.

The Detroit Free Press reported in October that the Detroit Pistons also have interest in Morris, whose twin brother, Marcus, has made a strong start with the Pistons under Stan Van Gundy, who acquired him via trade in July. […] Sources said that forward Terrence Jones would likely be included if a trade for Markieff Morris came to fruition, but the options for virtually every team in the league will increase in just over a week’s time, with more than 100 players who signed new deals over the summer becoming trade eligible Dec. 15.

Following the Detroit Pistons’ 102-95 win Friday night against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks, forward Marcus Morris was asked about a key defensive play made a couple of nights earlier against the Phoenix Suns.

Late Friday, after a 102-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks sent the Detroit PIstons’ win streak to three games, Morris was asked about a key play two nights earlier when he stole a pass by ex-teammate Brandon Knight late in regulation. The play led to Andre Drummond’s game-tying free throws, then overtime, then victory.

Whether Morris anticipated the play because of his time as Knight’s teammate, he didn’t say.

“I don’t know. What I do know is that he’s soft,” Morris said of Knight. “Soft. He panicked. So when you’re like that, that’s the type of stuff that happens.”

Scott promises to put his troops through some punishing rebounding drills this week, because, of course he does.

Per the LA Times:

There will be old-school boxing-out drills at practice this week after the Lakers got clobbered on the offensive boards, 18-7. This is something Coach Byron Scott promises. […] “Oh yeah. We’re definitely having them this week,” he said crisply. “I guarantee you.”

Scott also didn’t want to hear about the Lakers maybe getting fatigued in the second night of a back-to-back set. […] “That’s, to me, a bunch of crap,” he said. “It’s basketball. You come ready to play. I thought our guys gave an effort but I thought [the Suns’] effort was 10 times better.”

Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson again did his part on offense (20 points), but the Suns’ starting guards were the true stars of the night. Eric Bledsoe, typically Point Guard 1A, had 21 points while Brandon Knight, usually Point Guard 1B, had his first career triple-double — 30 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

It has been alternating brilliance from the Suns guards of late – from game to game and within each game. Point guard Eric Bledsoe scored 21 points for his career-best fifth consecutive 20-point game, and it became a footnote to how Knight starred just four nights after his career-high-tying 37-point game. […] This time, Knight set a career high for assists with 15 and turned it into his first career triple-double when he got a cue from the bench about what he needed. A tiring Knight chased down a loose ball for his 10th rebound (his 1,000th career board) with 4:46 to go in the game, sending a towel-waving Bledsoe and other bench players into a celebration.

Knight finished with 30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, joining Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to reach those numbers since steals became a statistic in 1973-74. […] “You’re going to have some up-and-down nights,” said Knight, who entered this homestand off an eight-turnover game. “The most important thing is that our team is playing well. As long as our team is playing well, we’re going in the right direction. Individual things will take care of themselves.”

Knight made three of the Suns’ 11 3-pointers that helped counter how the Lakers shot near 50 percent for most of the game.

The Clippers (5-4) had closed a Suns lead to 49-48 on a Griffin spinning post move before he complained about a no-call for Tyson Chandler contact on his score. That earned him a technical foul and an ejection because of an earlier double technical foul with Mirza Teletovic. […] “I just thought it was awful,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “He didn’t say enough.”

The Clippers went without J.J. Redick (concussion) and Chris Paul (groin strain) and started a lineup that had never played together this season. With Austin Rivers and Pablo Prigioni starting as the Clippers guards, the Suns starting backcourt outscored them 63-17.

Knight came off a career-high tying eight turnovers Sunday to for a career-high tying 37 points on Thursday, matching his Dec. 31, 2013, career high with Milwaukee against the Lakers. He opened the Suns’ scoring during a 17-5 run with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer on a Bledsoe drive-and-kick. Knight hit an array of shots from there, pulling up in transition for three more 3-pointers, dribbling off screens four times for mid-range jumpers and driving by four different defenders on five occasions for layups or floaters. […] “They were pretty consistent with what I’ve been getting, the same shots I got the first time we played the Clippers,” said Knight, who made four of 20 shots in the Suns’ loss to the Clippers. “It just went down tonight. I’m just continuing to be consistent, working on my game, continuing to be confident and those shots will fall.”

Steph Curry led the way with 46 points (21 coming in the first quarter alone), four assists and two steals as the Warriors improved to a perfect 10-0 on the season. The Warriors have continued their dominance of the Timberwolves; emerging victorious in 19 of 23 match-ups dating back to 2009.

Jazz 91 (4-4), Heat 92 (6-3)

With a third quarter shot from downtown, Chris Bosh set a new career-high with 11 straight games recording a three-pointer. A nice coup for the big man, who would notch 25 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks in Thursday’s close victory over the Jazz. Hassan Whiteside got in on the action as well, posterizing Derrick Favors with a one-handed slam.

Suns 118 (4-4), Clippers 104 (5-4)

Brandon Knight was on a mission Thursday night, racking up 37 points along with four assists. The Clippers played short-handed after the second quarter, losing Blake Griffin to an ejection after an apparent no-call.

At shooting guard: Dion Waiters. At small forward: Kevin Durant. At power forward: Serge Ibaka. At center: Enes Kanter. […] When the group convened at the 7:56 mark of the fourth quarter, the Thunder led by 12. When the next substitution was made, at the 4:22 mark, the Thunder was up 22. In a spurt of fastbreaks and feathery jumpers, that offense-heavy five-man group sealed a much-needed 124-103 win over the Suns.

As he sauntered back down the court — his team on a 14-3 run, KD on a personal 7-0 run — Durant laughed and chirped at Bledsoe. […] “E-Bled talks a lot of (stuff),” Durant said. “And I’m a (stuff)-talker myself.”

The concern with that group, of course, is defense. The stars must lock in, Waiters must avoid lapses and Kanter needs to continue to show improvement. On this night, all of those things lined up. Waiters played bully on the perimeter, using his barrel-chested frame to bother the Suns guards and collect three of the Thunder’s season-high 14 steals, spurring them out on the fastbreak. […] “Dion Waiters is a good defensive player,” Donovan said. “When he’s locking in defensively like he has been the past three or four games, it really helps our team.”

Alex Len: I grew up in a small town in the Ukraine called Anthracite. It’s probably about 60,000 people. They’re really hard working, and the No. 1 thing people do there is coal mining.

SLAM: When you were growing up, did you think you would be a coal miner?

AL: I had no idea what I was going to be, but my father and grandfather both worked in the mines. It was definitely something I didn’t want to do, because of my height. My mom was like, “You want to be crawling there in the mines?” I was like, Nah. So she said I had to work hard in school. Around that time, I started growing really fast—and I started doing gymnastics. After that, a basketball coach saw me and pulled me into basketball.

SLAM: Are you parents really tall?

AL: My dad is like 6-3; my mom is 5-10. My height is from out of nowhere. For like four years, I would go to gymnastics, then 90 minutes of chess club. I was the youngest and the tallest in the group, though, and the coach told me I wouldn’t be any good in gymnastics. But I always liked it—I liked the jumping, flipping and acrobatic stuff—so I kept going until the basketball coach found me.

SLAM: How old were you?

AL: Twelve or 13. I played a little ball before that for fun, but it wasn’t serious. I was mostly into soccer because we didn’t really have basketball courts as much as we did soccer fields.

SLAM: You started taking basketball seriously at 12. What did that mean?

AL: Three days a week I would go practice, and that was mostly a scrimmage. We’d play fives and have fun. One year, when I was 14, we went to a state championship and people saw the potential in me. After that, I got recruited to a bigger school in a different town. That’s when I got serious. I had practices twice a day.

SLAM: What was the goal?

AL: There was no way I was thinking about America or the NBA. It was just a chance to get out of town and do something different. When I was 16, I went to a few tournaments with my national team and played good. That’s when I started getting recruited.

SLAM: Did you follow the NBA as a kid?

AL: Oh, yeah. I was a big Celtics fan. The year they won [2008], I watched every single game.

SLAM: What was it like when you came to America for the first time?

AL: It was cool. I was recruited heavily by Maryland. By the time I got there for a visit, though, the guy who had recruited me had gone to Virginia Tech. So I visited both schools, but I had already made up my mind and went to Maryland.

SLAM: There probably weren’t many Terps who spoke Ukrainian. What was it like when you got there?

AL: It was fun, because it’s basketball. The language, originally, was a barrier. Being new to the country was a barrier. I learned fast, though.

SLAM: When did you realize you belonged?

AL: After my freshman year, I saw a bunch of the UNC guys get drafted. When I saw that I was like, I’ve played against all those guys! That’s when I thought I’d have a shot.

SLAM: This past year was a tumultuous one for the Ukraine. What is that like for you?

AL: It’s tough. My grandparents are still there, and I’m actually from the area where the war is going on. A few months ago, my grandparents were here and I tried getting them to stay, but they are set in their ways and didn’t want to leave.

SLAM: Do you talk about it with your teammates?

AL: Yeah, whoever asks, I tell them what’s happening. It’s hard, though. They don’t really show it on the news, and every channel is saying something different, so it’s confusing.

SLAM: When you play, do you feel like you’re repping for your whole country?

AL: Definitely. I’m honored, being out here, representing my country.

—

Tzvi Twersky is the Head of Basketball at Stance Socks and a Contributing Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @ttwersky.

Devin Booker’s basketball roots are planted deep—his pops had a long overseas career (along with a couple NBA years), while his older brother toughened him up as a youngster on the outdoor courts in Grand Rapids, MI. (Booker would later move to Mississippi to train with his father when the journeyman moved back to the States.) We chopped it up with the newly made Suns swingman to talk about his love for the game.

SLAM: What are your earliest basketball memories?

Devin Booker: I remember just being on the playground, wanting to play with my brother and his friends. Having an older brother, he used to push me in everything. We used to play in the driveway and I used to come in and cry and tell my mom that he would stop playing me once he won. That used to make me mad. Every time I got an opportunity, I’d go my hardest to prove myself to them. That’s what it was for me—just trying to prove to my brother and his friends that I belonged.

I grew up in Grand Rapids with my mother and brother—my dad was playing overseas. I got to visit him while he was playing in Italy, so I got to travel. He used to say, “This ball’s been good to me,” and it has. Seeing how he could take care of his family by playing, it made me drive that much harder. I took that to Grand Rapids and I was competitive. At first, I just wanted to be the best on my teams. Then I wanted to be the best in my division. And then I wanted to be the best in the state.

SLAM: Any lasting memories from visiting your dad when he was playing overseas?

DB: He was a teammate of Danilo Gallinari. Gallo, I used to play one-on-one with him when I was 11 or 12. I was a big fan. He was the man in Italy. So you know, I’m playing Gallo one-on-one and he gave me his shoes, autographed. That was a big deal. I still have the shoes. I worked out in Denver and I had the same locker as him, so I told him about that. It’s crazy how that actually happened.

SLAM: What kinda shoes?

DB: They’re some Reeboks—he was sponsored by Reebok. They called him the Rooster, so it has the little rooster on it.

SLAM: What was the first NBA jersey you owned?

DB: I had an Allen Iverson jersey,the white one with “Sixers” across it. My uncle gave it to me. And then my dad played in the League, for like three or four years, so he had some extras and I used to wear them around the house.

SLAM: Is there a specific place you look back on as being important to your development?

DB: My 10th grade year, I moved to Mississippi. My high school gym—it’s not one of the better schools—me and my dad call it The Dungeon. It didn’t even have AC. It got AC the year I got there. When it rains, it leaks on the floor. My dad says, “This is where it started.” I remember the drinking fountains, you couldn’t even see through the water. You showed up with a water bottle. I’d say that’s where most of my work was actually put in, my high school gym.

SLAM: Who did you root for growing up?

DB: I was a big Pistons fan. I actually had the opportunity a few weeks ago—I was in New Jersey with Rip Hamilton. We talked a lot. I explained to him he was basically my childhood. I used to watch that dynasty team. At the time, Rip Hamilton, he was my favorite player. I wasn’t even a two-guard then—I was a big man, that’s the crazy part. I was a big man. When you’re bigger than everybody [as a child], your coach just throws you down there. So, Rip Hamilton, Chauncey [Billups], Tayshaun [Prince], all them. I was a big Pistons fan.

SLAM: Do you remember the first basketball you owned?

DB: It was for a Fisher-Price hoop. When I used to visit [my father in Mississippi], my dad used to have me stay with my uncle—but he’s like my brother, because we’re similar in age. When his mom used to be gone, we used to move the Fisher-Price goal to the living room so we had more space, then we had to move it before she got back. That’s probably my earliest memory.

SLAM: Was there a point you knew your life would be all about becoming an NBA player?

DB: Nah, it’s been forever. I get the question, “What would you be if you weren’t a basketball player?” and usually I give an answer just because, but honestly, I’ve never had a backup plan.

—

Adam Figman is a Senior Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @afigman.

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“Is that the word, keyboard? I always had to carry that for him on the road. I didn’t know why he needed it. A couple of times his room was next to mine and I never heard him playing that thing. He was messing with me.”

Morris was extremely unhappy with the Suns for having traded away his twin brother Marcus to Detroit this summer—his relationship with the front-office remains frosty—and unsuccessfully pushed for his own trade.

Per the AP:

“I don’t really want to talk about what happened this summer,” he said. “I just really want to look forward to this up and coming season and glad to be back with my teammates, glad to be back with my team.”

Markieff said he is “super-confident” in coach Jeff Hornacek. […] “He’s been here a couple of years and me and him have a great relationship,” Morris said.

But as for his relationship with general manager Ryan McDonough, “you can ask him that, man,” was all Morris said. […] “He’s certainly not the first and probably won’t be the last player to be upset with the front office,” McDonough said. “It happens. I view my job first and foremost to put the most talent on the floor if we can and to give coach and his staff a group of players that work hard and play hard and have a chance to win a lot of games. If that ruffles some feathers, so be it.”

Morris did have 35 starts in 2014-15, but clearly feels he deserved more.

Morris also thinks the Suns failed to take advantage of his ability to cause mismatches.

From the Pistons’ team website:

And he sees this as his best opportunity to sink roots and carve out a role after 1½ seasons in Houston and 2½ in Phoenix. […] “Yes, it is. In Phoenix, I thought I should have started at the three. The guy that’s there now (P.J. Tucker) might have been a better defender, but as an all-around three, I thought I was the best we had. And I thought a lot of players thought that, too. But there’s a lot of opportunity here. I have a chance to come in and start right away. I’ve been in the league for five years. It’s nothing new to me. I have started my share of games. It’s not like I’m new to it. The only thing that’s new is that it’s the East Coast now.”

(Stan) Van Gundy plans to replace the post-up game that Greg Monroe provided with a dose of it from other players, Morris among them. That suits him, too.

“That’s always been a part of my game. With being a big three, I’ve got to utilize that. I don’t want to stand out on the wing and I’ve got a smaller guy on me. That tended to happen a lot in Phoenix where they didn’t utilize the mismatches. And I think that’s going to be a mismatch.”

After sitting out the entire 2013-14 campaign due to knee and foot injuries, J-Rich appeared in 19 games for the Philadelphia Sixers last season. (He inked a non-guaranteed deal with the Atlanta Hawks last month.)

Richardson, 34, played for five teams and won back-to-back Slam Dunk Contests in 2002-2003.

“Today is a bitter sweet moment for me. I’m officially announcing my retirement from pro basketball. I like to thank the organizations and fans in Charlotte, Phoenix, Orlando, Philly and especially The Bay Area for their loyal support the past 14 years. Walking away was the hardest decision I had to make but choosing my health and spending time with my family is more important to me! God bless!”

“I didn’t want to limp the rest of my life,” Richardson said. “I still have my whole life in front of me, God willing. I sat alone at a park in Atlanta thinking and no one said anything to me because they didn’t recognize me since I just got there. I talked to my wife for an hour on the phone and then I sat for five hours thinking while listening to music before deciding that retiring was the right thing to do.”

The Golden State Warriors selected Richardson with the fifth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft out of Michigan State. He averaged 18.3 points with the Warriors from 2001-07, including a career-high 23.2 points during the 2005-06 season. He also played for the Charlotte Bobcats, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers from 2007-15. Injuries caused him to miss the 2013-14 season and play in just 52 games the past three seasons combined.

While Richardson scored 14,644 points during his NBA career, he believes he will be most remembered for his dunking that included his signature windmill 360-degree slam. […] “The dunk contests are what people know me for,” Richardson said. “I played on teams with Golden State that I was scoring 17 to 18 points a game on, but we weren’t winning. So I will always be known for the dunk.”

“This is something that you only see in the movies,” remembers coach David Beckerman.

The classic scene was set: A high school team down double-figures in the closing minutes of a tournament game; nothing going right for the good guys; the end of a season drawing near; a stop-the-bleeding timeout; excitement on one end of the floor, heads bowed on the other; a weary coach locking eyes with his superstar.

Brandon Knight chuckles over the phone when reminded of his old coach’s favorite story. He’s in high spirits—his five-year, $70 million contract with the Suns was officially announced this week. An ankle injury limited Knight to 11 games with Phoenix following a mid-season trade last year, but the Suns quickly identified a cornerstone in the 23-year-old point guard.

“I just remember my teammates had a sad look on their face like the season was over,” he says. “I was like, I don’t know why you guys are looking like this—we got practice tomorrow!”

The clichéd comeback rolled on following Coach B’s timeout, as Knight quickly collected two steals and buried a pair of threes. Knight, twice the National Player of the Year, finished with 52 in a 4-point win. The Miami native led Florida’s Pine Crest to the 2009 state title a few days later.

That’s mostly the way it went for Knight back then. Nineteen points per game as an 8th-grader on varsity. A pair of state championships. A 4.3 GPA (weighting honors courses). A game-winning three in the 2010 McDonald’s All-American Game. A commitment to Kentucky, where, despite averaging 17 ppg en route to the Final Four, he made his most significant contributions off the floor.

“Brandon single-handedly changed what was happening for us academically,” says UK coach John Calipari. “Since he left, our team has never been under a 3.0 (GPA) for a school year. He changed the culture.

“I would come back to my office at 11:30 at night and he’d be at the practice facility. He’d say, ‘I had a chemistry test I was studying for. I had to get it done, so I’m here now.’”

The distinctive balance of character and skill intrigued the Pistons, who selected Knight with the No. 8 pick in the 2011 Draft. But in Detroit, for the first time in a long time, Knight was unsuccessful.

The Pistons won just 25 games during his lockout-shortened rookie season, and 29 games the following year. Knight spent those seasons moving on and off the ball, on and off the bench. He averaged an unspectacular 13 points and 4 assists per game. There didn’t seem to be much improvement from Year One to Year Two. This was not the way it was supposed to go.

In late July of 2013, Knight, then just an enigmatic combo-guard, was shipped from Detroit to Milwaukee in what was billed as The Brandon Jennings Trade.

Cemented as the Bucks’ point guard, Knight posted nearly 18 and 5 per game over his first 82. This past season, his second in Milwaukee, began beautifully from both a team standpoint (the Bucks were playing Playoff ball following a 15-win campaign) and a personal one (for 52 games, only Knight and Stephen Curry averaged at least 17, 5 and 4 while shooting above 40 percent from deep), but was jolted by another bump on an unexpectedly jagged NBA road.

“When I got traded from Detroit, I was surprised, but I knew it was possible,” Knight remembers. “This time I was like, No way. But it still happened.”

Knight’s versatility and sharp shooting likely drew the Suns’ interest initially. Once he arrived, however, it was his renowned intellect that impressed.

“There are 34-year-olds in the League, slow as molasses, whose understanding of the game allows them to play at the top levels,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek says. “[While injured], Brandon would be talking to and helping his teammates behind the bench during games. I consider Brandon a veteran, even though he’s only 23.”

It’s easy to understand why. In addition to possessing a high hoops IQ, Knight’s already been through the NBA wringer. He was told he didn’t belong at his natural position. He was dragged through three borderline tank jobs. He was dealt twice on his rookie contract, a rarity for quality players. Nobody is taking Brandon Knight under his wing.

“Nah,” he says with a laugh. “Those days are kinda over for me.”

Leo Sepkowitz is an Editorial Assistant at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @LeoSepkowitz.

Thanks to DeMarcus Cousins’ surprising long-range prowess, several of John Calipari’s former Kentucky Wildcats took down the visiting North Carolina Tar Heels contingent 122-115 Sunday night. The occasion was the

$200K went to the Naismith Hall of Fame Legacy Fund in Dean Smith’s name, while another $50K was designated to the UNC Children’s Hospital.

Below is the official box score:

From the press release:

DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein sharing the frontcourt. Eric Bledsoe throwing alley-oops to Terrence Jones. All against a team wearing Caroline blue. […] “Incredible,” Cousins said. “Always fun to play in front of these fans.”

A team of 10 former Wildcats now playing in the NBA coached by Anthony Davis defeated a team of former North Carolina Tar Heels in Sunday’s annual Alumni Charity Game, 122-115. A crowd of 23,154 filled Rupp Arena for the game, cheering an array of dunks and, more often, 3-pointers. […] “It’s always a great feeling being here,” Jones said. “It’s always going to be the same love and just the same amazing feeling every time I’m coming in here. Just great memories.”

Cousins was the star in his return to Rupp. The 2009-10 Cat rained in 3s between occasional forays in the paint, including one of his five treys from the edge of the midcourt UK. […] “I thought I was shooting 2s,” Cousins joked.

Indiana probably doesn’t want another “problem” personality, and the Pacers don’t have much beyond a lowball offer without attaching a first-rounder. Morris would open up the floor a bit in Washington. He’d eat into the Wizards’ Kevin Durant cap room, but they could move him in a pinch after the season. The Kings and Knicks should take a look, even though neither has movable assets that would interest Phoenix — unless the Knicks are ready to engage in Carmelo Anthony trade talks. (They’re not there, yet. But they’re getting closer.)

Morris can already post and pass (“He’s an excellent passer,” Hornacek says), and he hit 31.8 percent from deep last season — just 3 percentage points below the league average. That’s not good enough to scare defenses, and the Suns hoped Morris would have made more progress by now. “We thought he’d be a little better,” Hornacek says. “If he’s right around 30 percent, that’s probably not conducive to him shooting a lot of 3s.”

Draymond Green shot 33.7 percent from deep, and he had free rein to jack five triples per 36 minutes. He even faced criticism for getting gun-shy in the Finals, when the Cavs invited him to fire away. Morris shoots 31.8 percent, and he’s a disappointment who regularly passes up wide-open 3s. […] Green and Morris are nothing alike on defense, of course. Green breathes fire, and Morris too often uses defense as a chance to catch his breath. “Some games he brings it, some games he doesn’t,” Hornacek says. “Maybe it’s conditioning. Maybe it’s him saying, ‘If I put the effort in on defense, then I can’t do it on the offensive end.’”

“He doesn’t draw enough fouls,” Hornacek says. Other Phoenix players have a bad habit of standing still while Morris surveys. That’s partly on those players and the coaching staff, but it’s also linked to where Morris likes to operate. He lives in that weird in-between space a step or two outside the paint, and that clutters up the most natural cutting lanes both inside and outside. “He doesn’t get the ball deep on the block, and sometimes there’s no place to cut,” Hornacek says.

Shaq’s time with the Lakers featured a well-publicized feud with his co-star, Kobe Bryant. But Shaq said he was really just trying to motivate Kobe. […] O’Neal: “I had to figure out a way to get him to perform at a high level. And I realized that we were the same people – we don’t like criticism and we turn it into motivation… [Kobe] was a guy that I know if I talk smack, he’s going to come out and try and score 50. I think it worked perfectly.”

And later, Shaq boldly claims the duo was the best the NBA has ever seen. […] O’Neal: “I just felt that sometimes he didn’t do it the right way. I know he felt that sometimes he felt that I didn’t work hard or whatever, whatever, but again it all worked. Three of four. we will be the most talked about, the most enigmatic, the most controversial duo, the best 1-2 punch in the history of the game.”

Bensinger: “[Phil Jackson] said something about you that I’m sure wasn’t intended to be critical but there’s no other way to really look at it. That if you worked harder he thought you could have won 10 consecutive MVP’s. When you heard that, what was your reaction?” […] O’Neal: “In the words of Allen Iverson, ‘We talking about practice?’ Did I work hard in practice? No. Never. And let me tell you why. The guy that I’m playing against, they’re under me. So to try and show that they’re worthy of being an NBA player, they would touch me up. So it was my philosophy… I’m not gonna get touched up twice. I’m not gonna get beat up at practice and in the game. So I will chill in practice and I’ll give you all in the game.”

Missing from the affair was forward Markieff Morris, the longest-tenured player on the roster. […] His absence was expected, and to be fair, his appearance was not scheduled.

Morris has kept largely to himself, shunning most in the organization ever since twin brother Marcus was traded to Detroit in July, a fact head coach Jeff Hornacek alluded to during his remarks to the evening’s invited guests at The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician. […] “Now we have one little thing we got to take care of, hopefully,” he said, smiling.

“Hopefully he can get here and we can all talk to him. I think once he gets here with the players — and maybe the players can help out in that regard — and realize that, probably like anything else, it happens when you might not be happy with the organization, but you’re a professional, you go out there and you play as hard as you can,” Hornacek said. […] “Really, when you get out there and start playing games, you’re not playing for the organization, you’re probably not even playing for your coaches, you’re playing for yourself and your teammates because that’s the bond that those guys have as players, so once he gets playing with these guys I think he’ll be okay.”

The Phoenix Suns will be rocking some dope new uniforms next season—the team unveiled black alternates Tuesday night. And here it is ….. #WeArePHX pic.twitter.com/gCwfAD41cL — #WeArePHX (@Suns) September 9,

The Suns are selling the re-designed threads as having something to do with civic pride.

From the press release:

We Are PHX. It isn’t just a marketing campaign. It’s ingrained in the fabric of the Phoenix Suns organization literally and figuratively. It’s about the city that has defined all of us in the past, present and into the future.

The color of the uniform hearkens back to another group of the Valley’s favorite Suns, too. The black jersey and shorts pay homage to the alternate set that debuted during Sir Charles’ reign during the 1994-95 season. The purple and orange piping along the neckline is also a call back to that beloved uniform.

The numbers and font along with the shorts tie in the current iteration of the Suns uniforms, creating a look that honors the past and present of the franchise.

The tweet may not seem like a huge deal, but not every team publicly wishes a player happy birthday. In fact, Manchester City star Yaya Toure was so upset last year that nobody from the club wished him a happy birthday that he considered leaving the club.

The Suns definitely did not make that mistake.

Markieff has been predictably absent from unofficial team workouts in Phoenix, but the Suns really are trying to patch things up with their disgruntled power forward.

“The Suns power forward said he feels disrespected by the way the team handled the July 9 trade of his twin and former teammate, Marcus Morris, to the Detroit Pistons. Now he is demanding a trade of his own.

The North Philadelphia native, who starred with his brother at Prep Charter and Kansas, is determined to be dealt.

‘One thing for sure, I am not going to be there,’ Morris said Tuesday after a morning workout at Competitive Edge Sports in King of Prussia.

‘If you want to put that out there, you can put that out.’ he added. ‘I don’t give a [freak]. I am not going to be there at all. That’s just what it is.’

In September 2014, Morris signed a four-year, $32 million contract extension that kicks in this season. His brother signed a four-year, $20 million extension. The two settled for less money than they would have received as free agents in order to remain teammates.

If Markieff Morris refuses to play, the 6-foot-10, 245-pounder knows that the Suns can suspend him without pay if they’re unwilling to release or trade him. He is scheduled to report to training camp at the end of September.

‘I’ve got to show up. No question.’ said Markieff Morris, who is scheduled to make $8 million this season. ‘You can’t do that. I will be a professional. Don’t get me wrong.

‘But it won’t get that far. … I’m going to be out before then, should be.’

…

Of the latest deal, Markieff said he’s not disappointed that the Suns traded his brother to the Pistons, where he is likely to get more opportunities to succeed. But he is disappointed in how the twins were notified.

They said they learned of the trade while on vacation out of the country with their girlfriends. Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock, and Danny Granger were traded to the Pistons in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick.

‘If you are going to do something, do it,’ Markieff Morris said. ‘The GM, I’ve been there longer than him, the coaches, everybody. I’ve been there the longest, and I don’t get the respect to be like, ‘Yo Keef, we are going to trade your brother. You are our future power forward.’ I’m the future power forward. I’m the premier player of the team…That’s just how business is done I guess.'”

In April, Morris, along with his twin brother Marcus, were charged with felony aggravated assault. Police said the pair, along with three others, assaulted a man they believed sent an inappropriate text to the twins’ mother.

“I wouldn’t say stunning, but in Phoenix, I would say I didn’t have a great opportunity,” Morris told the Detroit Free-Press. “For them to trade me without consent or telling me was like a slap in the face, because of the contract I took from those guys and the money I took from them,” Morris told the paper.

A few weeks later, Marcus was back at it, referring to the Suns organization as “clowns” in a tweet directed at Phoenix guard Archie Goodwin.

scottiepippen: Sorry @shaq but I don’t get caught up in hypotheticals. All I know is we won 6 titles, twice the amount you claimed while in LA…

shaq: Sorry @scottiepippen I don’t believe in hypotheticals either, but I seen most of those final you did ok , but this guy did most the work . #youwereok steve kerr and Ron harper deserve more credit than you , remember I WAS BATMAN YOU WAS ROBIN , I was PUFFY YOU WAS MASE…

scottiepippen: Speaking of being a sidekick… if I recall correctly you know a thing or two about that as well. @shaq

“It was a grind,” Hammon said. “They’ve been together for 17 days. They really started to jell the last two or three games. They listened and they played really hard for me. I just really appreciate their attentiveness and alertness. They were tired but they fought through.” […] The Spurs participated in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues, but Hammon served as the head coach only in the higher profile Vegas event.

Jonathon Simmons scored 23 points and took home MVP honors for the championship game. Treveon Graham added 22 points for the Spurs. […] “It’s amazing. It was a humbling experience,” Simmons told NBATV of playing for Hammon. “For all of us. I really love her and I’ve only known her a couple days. She’s a real cool coach. She’s a player coach. That’s something we all like.”

Last year the Spurs made Hammon the first female full-time assistant coach in league history. Earlier this summer they told her she would lead the team in Las Vegas. […] “She’s a firecracker, she takes no prisoners, she’s got a great personality,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said during a visit to Minnesota in the regular season. “She knows her stuff. She’s competitive.”

Green and Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek publicly clashed last season, and despite having become a fan-favorite in Phoenix, Green’s departure became inevitable.

Per Yahoo! Sports:

Green, 29, blossomed with the Suns in two seasons after the team acquired him from the Indiana Pacers. After arriving with the Suns in 2013-14 to deliver the best season of his career – averaging 15.8 points in 82 games – his production and minutes slipped in the 2014-15 season. Green deepens the Miami bench, a scorer who can play behind the talented wings including Dwyane Wade.

The Suns have a glut of wings that allowed them to let Green leave in free agency. In eight NBA seasons – which were interrupted with a stop overseas in Russia – Green has averaged 10.2 points. Drafted as a teenager out of high school in Houston, Green has shown a steady arc of growth in the NBA, and the Heat will be his eighth team in eight seasons.

Weems, who was a second-round pick by Chicago in 2008, played for Denver and Toronto but has been overseas the past four seasons. Playing with CSKA Moscow in Russia the last three years, Weems most notably was able to develop a reliable three-point shot.

Wright played for the Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns last season.

Per Yahoo! Sports:

The Grizzlies used their full midlevel exception to sign him.

At 6-foot-10, Wright gives the Grizzlies a long, athletic forward who should be an upgrade over Kosta Koufos. Wright delivers another frontline weapon with a lineup that includes Zach Randolph and the likely return of All-Star center Marc Gasol.

Wright is from Nashville, Tenn., and was the eighth overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft out of North Carolina.

He posted averages of 13.4 points and 4.5 assists in eleven games with the Suns last season.

I’ve been told by an NBA official that Knight, who’ll become a restricted free agent on July 1, will sign a five-year, $70 million contract with the Suns.

Knight, who is 23, was enjoying an All-Star caliber season – 17.8 points and 5.4 assists — before the Bucks surprisingly sent him to the Suns.

He then played 11 games for the Suns, averaging 13.4 and 4.5 assists. After suffering an ankle injury March 9, Knight missed 16 of the Suns’ final 17 games. He underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle in April.

The Phoenix Suns have signed 17-year-old fan Jared Ornoski as an honorary member of the franchise’s front office. Ornoski, who is currently battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, will join Suns center Alex Len during tonight’s Lottery, and then will sit in on a pre-Draft workout, join the other executives during a Draft-planning meeting and remain with the front office during the NBA Draft this June.

More details about Jared’s journey are available here, and you can (and should) donate to Jared’s ongoing fight against cancer right here.

Erik Hood claims that the Morris bros joined a group of five people that severely beat him.

Per the AP:

Police say it is alleged that Hood, 36, was assaulted for sending an inappropriate text message to the Morris brothers’ mother. […] The names of the other three men are redacted in court documents released Tuesday.

Their first court appearance is set for May 7. […] “We have been advised by our attorneys not to discuss this case or make any statements about it. We are sorry for the distraction this has caused to our fans and the Suns,” Marcus and Markieff Morris said in a statement released through the team Tuesday.

President of basketball operations Lon Babby said the Suns were “disappointed to learn that Marcus and Markieff Morris have been charged. This is a serious matter and we will treat it as such,” Babby said. “However, at this time, we think it is most appropriate to continue to monitor the legal process as it unfolds before responding further.”

The discussion lasted through the bulk of a timeout in the Clippers’ 112-101 victory Tuesday, and if you think this is the kind of thing that would worry Coach Doc Rivers, you’re wrong. […] “We were up huge and they were mad at a miscommunicated play,” Rivers said with a tinge of pride. “I like that.”

The on-court interaction, while intense, came in the pursuit of perfection, and as the Clippers enter the postseason, they’re going to need to be close to that level. […] “It’s not about the other team,” Paul said. “It’s always about us.”

Griffin said the disagreement was about a couple of plays down the stretch of the first half. […] “It’s a great thing, to me personally, for two guys to not settle for being up 20-whatever going into the locker room,” Griffin said. “It’s a perfectionist thing on both of our parts.”

“He never really seemed to get it going and then it comes to the point where, if you’re not scoring and if your defense isn’t picking up, it’s hard to stay in the game,” Hornacek said. “The next guy is going, ‘I needed help here and the guy wasn’t here.’ We’re trying to develop something for the future, not just being out here for everybody to play in the game. We want to get to a top-notch winning level and you’ve got to do it on both sides.”

Green believes that Phoenix would have qualified for the postseason if he had played more in the second half of the season, and with free agency possibly looming this summer, Green’s representative fired back at Hornacek for publicly criticizing the 29-year old.

Per the Sporting News:

“It’s completely unfair to misrepresent Gerald and his game like this,” Kevin Bradbury of BDA Sports said. “You’re talking about a player that wants to win at any cost and is a tremendous locker guy and teammate. I don’t see the benefit for the coach to go about things this way.”

Green is in his second year with the Suns and posted his best game of the season Wednesday night against the Mavericks, scoring 30 points on 10-for-19 shooting. But after averaging 15.8 points in 28.4 minutes a game last season, he is down to 11.8 in 19.3 minutes this year. He can be a free agent this summer.

“The numbers show pretty clearly that Gerald is not the terrible defensive player he is being made out to be,” Bradbury said. “The Suns played him a lot last year, they liked what he brought, when he was rolling, the team was rolling, and no one was out there complaining about his defense. […] It’s unfortunate because the team isn’t where some people thought it would or should be at this point in the season. I’m not sure why that falls on one guy all of a sudden, especially when they have known all along what they have with Gerald. He can score, and can score a lot quickly, when you give him the minutes. He brings it on the defensive end, consistent with what the team brings as a unit. But when you hear the coach saying he is so bad that he can’t be on the floor? That’s nonsense. You have to wonder where that comes from and why.”

Playing for the first time in four nights, the Mavs finally stepped up their defensive game and held the Phoenix Suns to a mere 41 points in the second half. Still, the Mavs had to hold on and watch Markieff Morris miss a wide-open 3-pointer as time expired and Dallas escaped with a wild 107-104 victory over the Suns at American Airlines Center.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Mavs, who also clinched the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed in the upcoming playoffs. Dallas (47-31) now opens a three-game road trip Friday in Denver before finishing the regular season at home on Wednesday against Portland.

Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs’ long-time go-to player, nailed a huge 3-pointer which put Dallas ahead 106-102 with 22.8 seconds left. Nowitzki, who finished with 19 points, took a feed from Monta Ellis, who drove hard to the basket before dropping the pass off to the Mavs’ 17-year veteran.

The Phoenix Suns’ Morris twins live by the mantra “Family over everything.” […] Phoenix police say Marcus and Markieff Morris put those words into action when they and three others committed felony aggravated assault against a man the 25-year-old twins learned had sent “inappropriate” text messages to their mother.

For their part, the Morris twins have denied assaulting the reported victim, whom they also claim not to know, and their mother denies having been in contact with the man on the day of the incident, though authorities found evidence to the contrary, the police report shows. […] The report shows the alleged victim, Erik Hood, told police he had been a mentor to the twins and supported them financially for a time when they were high school students in Philadelphia. Hood, a former professional basketball player who now works as a talent scout, also showed police photographs of himself with the Morris twins, the report said.

Witnesses told police they saw the five subjects flee in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but none of them were able to identify any of the subjects. Investigators reportedly interviewed about two dozen additional witnesses who said they did not see anything or could not identify those involved. […] Hood, who later identified (Julius) Kane and the Morris twins as three of his five attackers, suffered a broken nose, a large knot on the back of his head and abrasions, records show. The woman who accompanied Hood to the game also verified Kane and the twins as being part of the altercation.

Phoenix suffered their latest heartbreaker 107-106, as Golden State continues to roll along.

The Dubs admitted that they were largely outplayed throughout the game, but Barnes was there in the end to bail them out.

Per the SF Chronicle:

“It gets the blood going,” said Barnes, who made only 2 of 8 shots. “Obviously, it feels good to make that shot. I messed up twice defensively down there, so I’m glad we got a win.”

The Warriors uncharacteristically messed up a lot on defense, experimenting with a variety of lineups, playing five reserves at least 15½ minutes apiece and facing a desperate Suns squad. The Warriors allowed Phoenix to climb back from a 14-point deficit to take the lead 89-88 on T.J. Warren’s three-point play with 5:33 remaining.

“They outplayed us, they were the more physical team, we made some careless turnovers, and I thought they probably deserved to win,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “But some of the things I love about our team are that we’re competitive and we have guys who are fearless down the stretch. They’ll take and make a lot of big shots.” […] “Anybody’s number who is called in that opportunity has to be ready and have the confidence to take it,” Curry said. “Whether he makes it or misses, you like the aggression he had to the basket. He made a big play, and I’m sure that will boost his confidence as we keep going.”

The 10th-place Suns fell four games behind Oklahoma City (42-32) with eight games remaining, but it is more like a five-game gap because Oklahoma City won the season series, 3-1, in case of a tie. [….] The Suns lost a third consecutive home game, blowing a 20-point lead by going from a 62-point first half to a 35-point second half. The Suns played like a fatigued team in the second half even though Oklahoma City was the team coming off a Saturday game at Utah. The Thunder still had its largest comeback of the season for the Suns’ largest blown lead of the season.

“It looked like we ran out of gas,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We weren’t getting up and down the court. We had turnovers and they were getting easy baskets. I don’t know if the guys felt demoralized when that happened but you’ve got to keep playing.”

Oklahoma City made five 3-pointers in a span of 3:10 with none of them by Westbrook, who had four of his 33 points in the fourth quarter. The Suns missed their last eight 3-point tries of the game, continuing to be the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team since the trade-deadline roster makeover. […] “They made (expletive) five 3s in a row, contested,” Markieff Morris said. “We were up 20 points. That’s a tough blow.”

In a chippy game with emotions running high, the Hornets continued to stay hot while the Raptors saw their guards yet again hoist up a lot of shots. Charlotte, now on a four-game winning streak, had things clicking on the perimeter and in the paint. Mo Williams (23 points, 7 assists, 4-8 on 3-pointers) was knocking down treys and getting his teammates involved while Al Jefferson (23 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) looked like the Big Al before his injury. And most promising of all, Lance Stephenson (11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 turnovers) actually had an efficient 24 minutes of play besides his elbow that caused him to get a technical. There were six total technicals given out to six different players. The Raptors had plenty of reasons to be frustrated. DeMar DeRozan (30 points, 3 assists) and Kyle Lowry (25 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds) needed 48 shots to get 55 combined points, Jonas Valanciunas (9 points, 6 rebounds) had little presence down low and the entire team had another dreadful final quarter. The Raptors found a way to close the game on a 13-4 run in the final 1:13 when the game had been all but decided. In the first 10:47 of the fourth quarter, though, the Raptors were outscored 22-10. Losers of seven of their last eight, the Raptors are falling and falling fast.

Pacers 98 (27-34), Bulls 84 (39-24)

Since George Hill (7 points, 6 assists) returned to the starting lineup, Indiana’s offense has been thriving and pushing the team to a three-game lead going into Friday game. The Pacers, though, took down the Bulls in large part due to their stout defense. Solomon Hill (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) was active on the defensive end while David West (10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) and Ian Mahinmi (14 points, 11 rebounds) played a large role in the Pacers outrebounding Pau Gasol (18 points, 10 rebounds) and the Bulls 51-44. And even though Roy Hibbert (6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block) only managed to grab three boards, he still made his presence felt on the interior and was a factor in forcing Chicago to only shoot 36.0 percent from the field. Aaron Brooks (4 points, 2-11 from the field) simply can not take advantage of the absence of Rose. In his past 10 games, the speedy quick point guard is shooting a dreadful 34-122 (27.9 percent) from the field. Ouch. The silver lining for the Bulls came form rookie Doug McDermott (16 points, 8-17 from the field), who showed clear confidence during his 16 minutes on the floor. The Pacers will look to extend their winning streak Saturday against the Knicks.

Magic 119 (20-43), Kings 114 (21-39)

The Magic broke their four-game losing streak thanks to another fantastic scoring performance from Victor Oladipo (32 points, 10 assists, 5 steals). The crafty guard has now poured in 70 points in his last two games while shooting a blistering 29-49 (59.2 percent) from the field. Even though there have been plenty of ups and downs for Orlando this season, including a fired coach, this type of back-to-back show Oladipo’s put on has to bring a smile to all Magic fans. His team needed every bit of his 32 points, as the Kings came storming back from a 16-point deficit with just over 16 minutes left in the game. After Andrew Nicholson (14 points) drilled a 3-pointer with 4:43 left in the third quarter, Orlando held a comfortable 89-73 lead. Then behind 1o point from Rudy Gay (39 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals), who notched his third 30-point game of the season, the Kings sprinted their way to a 27-10 run and actually led 100-99 after Nik Stauskas (7 points, 2-3 on 3-pointers) made a shot from deep. However, Tobias Harris (19 points, 6 rebounds) and Channing Frye (22 points, 10 rebounds, 6-9 on 3-pointers) both made their 3-pointers and free throws down the stretch to close this one out and give their home fans a victory. The Magic shot 56.5 percent from the field while the Kings only shot 44.7 percent.

Jazz 89 (25-36), 76ers 83 (13-49)

Since the trade of Enes Kanter and the emergence of Rudy Gobert (9 points, 15 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals), it can’t be stated enough just how drastically improved this Utah defense is. After holding the Sixers to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and only 83 points, the Jazz have now held seven of their past eight opponents under 90 points—and gone 6-2 during that stretch. (If only you were in the East, right Jazz fans?) Friday night, Utah got just enough offense from Gordon Hayward (25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) and Derrick Favors (15 points, 10 rebounds) to hold down the feisty 76ers. Guards Isaiah Canaan (16 poitns, 4 assists) and Ish Smith (14 points, 7 assists) had decent games but didn’t much help from their teammates. Thomas Robinson (11 points, 12 rebounds, 15 minutes) did post an efficient double-double off the bench despite Philly’s lack of offensive firepower. The Jazz will now travel to Brooklyn to play the Nets on Sunday.

Wizards 99 (35-27), Heat 97 (27-34)

Even with no Dwyane Wade or Luol Deng, the Heat almost completed the ridiculous comeback against the struggling Wizards. With a mission to break out of their slump, it was clear the Wizards started this game angry and with a mission to finally pick up a win against a playoff team. Entering this game, Washington had gone 3-11 in its last 14 and only defeated the Nets, Magic and Pistons in that stretch. Behind 15 early points from Marcin Gortat (14 points, 17 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Drew Gooden (11 points, 4 rebounds), the Wizards led 40-18 after only the first quarter. Nene (20 points, 8-8 on free throws) played one of his more complete games of the season while John Wall (6 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) worked to get his teammates involved. This lead would swell all the way to 83-48 with 7:10 to go in the third quarter—a 35-point lead. The blowout was on. But Shabazz Napier (16 points, 4 assists), who had one point made three consecutive 3-pointers late in the third quarter, led a monster 39-15 comeback that made the deficit only 98-97 with 1:08 to go. Henry Walker (8 points, 4 rebounds), though, would miss a 3-point attempt with 5.9 seconds remaining to save the Wizards from one of the most embarrassing losses of the season. With the Hornets and Pacers both winning their fourth straight Friday night, Miami has officially dropped out of the playoffs and into the ninth seed.

Hawks 106 (49-12), Cavaliers 97 (39-25)

As many people know—or don’t know—the Hawks lack a boisterous, well-known superstars that can be frequently found on television commercials or in NBA Twitter discussions. What they don’t lack, though, is confidence and a true ability to beat any team in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks built up a fourth quarter double-digit lead and then locked down defensively to close this one out and earn their sixth straight win. Al Horford (19 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) and Paul Millsap (16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) have such chemistry and diversity in how they can defend and work off each other on the offensive end of the court. They both played a key role in helping the Hawks outscore the Cavs 54-24 in the paint. Defensively, Horford acts as an anchor while Millsap has the ability to cover a lot of ground against bigger and smaller forwards. Millsap, specifically, got to LeBron James (18 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 9 turnovers) on multiple possessions, causing the King to have another high-turnover game. Atlanta also does a great job of sporadically throwing in traps or witching on screens, causing Cleveland to never have a good handle on what to expect coming off a screen. This was a factor in Kyrie Irving (20 points, 4 assists, 5 turnovers)—just like LeBron—having more turnovers than assists on the night. Just as Horford and Millap seem to mesh in the starting lineup, Jeff Teague (16 points, 3 assists) and backup point guard Dennis Schroder (15 points, 8 assists) continue to balance each other extremely well. Atlanta went into the fourth quarter only up 81-79. But after a quick 10-2 run in the first 2:13, the Hawks established a double-digit lead and help on to this the rest of the way. The Cavs would only be able to manage one free throw and a dunk after the game had been decided in the final 3:16.

Suns 108 (33-30), Nets 100 (25-35) OT

The Suns finished regulation play on a 16-1 run and got some big buckets from their guards and twins in overtime to steal this one on the road. Eric Bledsoe (19 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 turnovers) set the pace, especially during that 16-1 run, while Markieff Morris (19 points, 5 rebounds) and Marcus Morris (19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) had one of their best games combined this season. One of the main reasons the Nets lost this game was due to the lack of production from their starters. Not only did they combine to shoot 14-42 (33.3 percent) from the field, the Suns starters outscored them 74-38. If it wasn’t for Brooklyn’s bench, the Suns wouldn’t have needed overtime to close this one out. After Phoenix sprinted back to tie the game at 92 a piece in regulation, Jarrett Jack (10 points, 5 assists, 3-12 from the field) had a decent look to win the game but couldn’t connect, as he struggled to do for most of the night. In overtime, Bledsoe and Brandon Knight (12 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 0 turnovers) struck early while the Morris twins followed that with a pair of back-to-back jumpers. The Suns found a way to win this game despite shooting an ugly 3-26 (11.5 percent) on 3-pointers. No matter how ugly the win, Phoenix needs as many as they can get down the stretch if this team wants to sneak by the Thunder and Pelicans.

Rockets 103 (42-20), Pistons 93 (23-38)

Going into this game, the Rockets had lost two straight and allowed the Blazers to surpass them for the three seed in the West. In need of a boost, James Harden (38 points, 12 assists, 12 rebounds, 16-18 on free throws, +28) reminded everything that Russell Westbrook isn’t the only MVP candidate out there. The Beard posted his third triple-double of the season and calmly sunk eight straight free throws in the final eight minutes of the game. Terrence Jones (17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals) and Corey Brewer (15 points) both shot efficiently from the field and were factors on the defensive end. The Pistons hoisted 102 shots and only shot 36.3 percent from the field. Reggie Jackson (17 points, 7 assists), who was coming off his first double-double with the Pistons in Detroit’s last game against the Pelicans, played well in 34 minutes, looking more and more comfortable at the helm. Greg Monroe (19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals) and Andre Drummond (8 points, 21 rebounds, 2 blocks) did their damage in the paint. However, Detroit just didn’t have anybody who could slow down Harden and Houston took the victory because of it.

Grizzlies 97 (44-17), Lakers 90 (16-45)

It might have been a little closer than they would have hoped, but the Grizzlies used a big fourth quarter from their big men to earn the victory against the Lakers. It isn’t a secret that Los Angeles struggles against any and all big men. Zach Randolph (24 points, 13 rebounds) and Marc Gasol (18 points, 6 rebounds) were able to take advantage of a starting lineup featuring Robert Sacre (0 points, 2 rebounds) and Carlos Boozer (7 points, 9 rebounds) and continue to lead the way throughout the game. In the fourth quarter, though, it was the defense that shot down the Lakers for good. L.A. only managed to shoot 38 percent in the final 12 minutes, included four missed 3-point attempts to go along with four turnovers. Tony Allen (15 points, 5 rebounds) played a key role in contained Jordan Clarkson (25 points, 6 assists, 12-18 from the field) on the perimeter. He only scored two of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, coming just a minute into the quarter.

Celtics 104 (25-35), Pelicans 98 (33-29)

The Pelicans missed a great chance to tie the Thunder for the eighth seed in the West, but they got tripped up by the suddenly revitalized Boston Celtics. This team has been shaken up and mixed around all season long until a trade deadline forced Danny Ainge to stop making moves. One of those last moves was to bring in Isaiah Thomas (27 points, 4-6 on 3-pointers), who has fit in extremely well as a sparkplug off the bench and closer in the final quarter. He played both roles against New Orleans, scoring 14 of his 27 points in the fourth. He even had the ultimate heat check when he pulled up for and made a 3-pointer in transition early in the quarter. Even with Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger out Friday night, Boston just found a way to pull out this win—which they couldn’t seem to do at full health early in the season. Evan Turner (16 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds) has also played a major role in the Celtics’ recent success as he has started to turn his season around. New Orleans got a usual big game from Anthony Davis (29 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) while Eric Gordon (20 points, 4-9 on 3-pointers) found his touch behind the arc. However, the problem came at the defensive end late, as the Pelicans allowed the Celtics to outscore them 33-30 in the final quarter. Even with the Hornets winning Friday, the Celtics are still only a game and a half back of the eight seed.

Spurs 120 (38-23), Nuggets 111 (22-40)

The Nuggets’ post-Brian Shaw winning streak was fun while it lasted, but the streaking Spurs weren’t going to go easy on the visiting Nuggets. For the second consecutive game, Kawhi Leonard (25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks) and Tony Parker (24 points, 7 assists, 2 steals) led the way for the Spurs throughout the night and helped their team pick up the victory despite some shaky defense. These two will need to be at the top of their game if the Spurs wants to pull off a first-round upset—which they clearly could. Ty Lawson (23 points, 9 assists) and Kenneth Faried (20 points, 10 rebounds) continue to look revitalized and energetic on both ends of the floor. The Nuggets, though, allowed the Spurs to shoot 54.4 percent from the field. They also sent San Antonio to the line 18 times in the final quarter, the Spurs made 15 of them. San Antonio has won four straight, 11 of its last 12 home games and now only trails Dallas by half a game for the seventh seed.

Warriors 104 (48-12), Mavericks 89 (40-24)

The Mavs never had a chance before tipoff even took place. Coming off a loss against the Blazers Thursday night with no Chandler Parsons or Devin Harris to help with perimeter defense, it was only a matter of time before the Warriors blew this game wide open. The Mavs did give a lot of effort on both ends of the court; they were simply the more tired, more injured and less talented team on the court. Stephen Curry (22 points, 7 assists, 5-8 on 3-pointers), Klay Thompson (16 points) and Draymond Green (18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) seemed to be toying with the Mavs all night, smiling at each other after buckets or laughing when the Mavs complained about every other call. Frustration mounted early for Dallas as no one could seem to find the basket. Monta Ellis (6 points, 4 steals) and Dirk Nowitzki (14 points) might have led the Mavs in scoring, but they combined to shoot a putrid 7-30 (23.3 percent) from the field. These two have struggled mightily since after the All-Star Break and honestly since the Rajon Rondo (14 points, 6 assists, 2 steals) trade as well. This team has lost four of five and only managed to average 82.0 ppg in the past two. Whether it’s benching Rondo and having him come in with the second unit so he doesn’t stunt the starters’ offensive flow, something drastic needs to be done before the Spurs, Thunder and Pelicans all pass the Mavs in the standings. It seems like a stretch, but with the difficult schedule the Mavs have ahead of them, it could be a very ugly end to the 2014-15 Mavericks season. It might even get uglier with Rondo, Ellis and Tyson Chandler (9 points, 5 rebounds) all being question marks this offseason.

The NBA announced fines Tuesday for both Whiteside and Len, and Markieff Morris was also punished for his Flagrant 2 foul on former teammate Goran Dragic.

From the press release:

Phoenix Suns center Alex Len has been fined $20,000 for initiating an altercation with Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside and attempting to take him to the floor. Whiteside has been fined $15,000 for escalating the incident by wrestling Len to the floor. Additionally, Suns forward Markieff Morris has been fined $15,000 for his Flagrant 2 for making excessive contact above the shoulders with Heat guard Goran Dragic. The penalties were announced Tuesday by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.

The incident involving Len and Whiteside occurred with 4:26 remaining in the third quarter of the Heat’s 115-98 win over the Suns on Monday, March 2, at AmericanAirlines Arena. The incident involving Morris occurred with 8:43 remaining in the third quarter of the same game.

“It means a lot because you always want to play good against your ex-teammates,” Dragic said. “When I was in Houston I did the same thing.” […] Two weeks ago, Dragic was traded from the Suns to Miami. Six games into his new surroundings, he got the better of the team he played with for five seasons. Dragic finished with 21 points on 5 of 9 shooting in just 15 minutes.

Dragic was fouled on a breakaway layup, causing him to take a scary (fall) underneath the basket. He landed on his back and Morris was ejected for the play. Gragic, who was dealing with back pain before the game, was surrounded by his teammates as he lay on the floor for several minutes. After shaking off the pain, he remained in the game. […] “I didn’t watch the play,” Dragic said. “I think I had a wide open layup and he just hit me. It was kind of painful but at the same time [Dwyane Wade] came to me and said, `Please stand up. They want you to be on the floor.’ I said, `Hey, you know I’m standing up.”’

Before Monday’s game, Dragic said he regretted some of the things he said publicly while requesting a trade. He never had any ill feelings toward team owner Robert Sarver. A day after the trade, Dragic even phoned Sarver to apologize. […] “I wish it would have gone differently,” Dragic said. “I’m not a guy who is going back in the past. It is what is. I’m always going to be grateful of that organization and Robert and what his family did for me.”

Hassan Whiteside’s temper got the best of him tonight and resulted in an ejected for retaliating against Phoenix center Alex Len. The fallout might be even worse for Miami, which likely will hear from the NBA about potential additional punishment. […] Whiteside got tossed with 4:26 left in the third quarter of the Heat’s 115-98 victory after charging at Len and tackling him under the basket. Len provoked that by grabbing the back of Whiteside’s jersey and shoving him.

“It was about the fourth or fifth time I dunked on him and I feel like he was really frustrated,” Whiteside said. “I shouldn’t have came back an retaliated the way I did because it really hurt my team… but every day is a learning day for me. But that’s what it was– it was just because I just kept dunking on him.”

Is Whiteside expecting more of those tactics in the future? […] “I realize a lot more teams are being really physical with me and I’m down for it,” he said. “That’s what I lift weights for. I’m pretty prepared for that.”

The point guard battle between Russell Westbrook and Eric Bledsoe was an epic one Thursday night — Russ earned yet another triple-double (the 13th of his career, and second in a row) with 39 points, 11 assists and 14 boards, but Bledsoe led the Phoenix Suns to a 117-113 overtime win against the visiting OKC Thunder.

Bledsoe fell just one assist shy of his own triple-dip, putting in 28 points, nine assists and a career-best 13 rebounds.

The Suns are now 1 ½ games behind the Thunder for the eighth and final Playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Per the AZ Republic:

The Suns (31-28) had been winless in their previous four overtime games and gone 6-16 this season in games decided by five points or fewer but shut out Oklahoma City (32-26) for nearly 3 ½ minutes of the overtime period to end the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak.

“(Westbrook’s) explosive and he’s been playing out of his mind with tremendous confidence over the past month,” said Bledsoe, who played 42 minutes after playing 36 in Wednesday’s win at Denver. “We just tried to show that toughness. Hopefully, it rubbed off on everybody else, which it did. […] I want to win and win as a team. It’s not about one person. At the end of the day, I do feel like I’ve got a bigger load to handle now. I thought B (Brandon Knight) came along and took a lot of it off me and Markieff (Morris) as well.”

“I have to do a better job of leading,” Westbrook said. “We started the game off too slow as a team. It was very unfortunate for us. They made some shots. We got lazy defensively but we kept fighting all game and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end of the game. […] Honestly, tonight, I thought I shot too much. I have to do a better job of trusting my teammates.”

LeBron James looked like a man amongst boys Thursday night in a potential finals matchup. He dropped a season-high 42 points and pulled down 11 boards in a convincing win over Golden State. James outplayed both Splash Brothers combined — Steph and Klay totaled 31 points and 10 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving scored 24 points but injured his left shoulder. He didn’t make the trip to Indiana for Friday’s matchup with the Pacers. Kevin Love posted 16 and 8, and Tristan Thompson outworked the opposition en route to 12 and 8. David Lee scored 19, and Draymond Green finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals in the losing effort.

The performance won’t instantly propel the King in front of Steph in terms of MVP rankings, but it’s definitely a good look.

The explosive guard was a terror — especially in the second half and overtime. Russ now leads the league with 4 triple-doubles on the season. He brought his team back from down 14 to send the game to overtime. However, he couldn’t finish a reverse layup with 5.7 seconds left in the extra period that would’ve tied the game.

This was one of the best PG battles we’ve seen all season. Eric Bledsoe was nearly as impressive as Westbrook; he went for 28 points, 13 boards and 9 assists. And more importantly, his team came out on top. Markieff Morris added 29 points and 11 rebounds, Alex Len contributed 12 and 11 and Brandon Knight dropped a cool 15.

Thomas scored eight of his 21 points in the last 1:37 Monday night in the Boston Celtics’ 115-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns, delivering a critical four-point play, a steal and layup, and two free throws to defuse a rally.

“It felt good to beat the team that traded you away,” Thomas said. “I just love the big moment. I want to be the hero. There’s no hard feelings between me and the Phoenix Suns. My closest friends are on that team,” he added. “It’s just me going out there and doing what it takes to win. When I get on the court, I don’t have any friends.”

(Eric) Bledsoe had 21 points and 10 assists in the Suns’ eighth loss in the past nine games. Brandon Knight, acquired from Milwaukee in another Suns deal last Thursday, had 20 in his first start for his new team. […] “It’s not perfect, don’t expect it to be but it felt pretty good,” Knight said of his home debut.

Babby said he took personal offense to Dragic’s Wednesday comment that he did not trust the organization, characterizing his statements as “unfair and unwarranted.” Dragic had been upset that the Suns brought in two more starting-caliber point guards, Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas, since he returned to the team in 2012 and that he became primarily a wing player because of their additions. […] “If some of those moves ruffle Goran’s feathers, so be it,” Babby said.

After hearing fans and media comment that the Suns traded their best player (Dragic), McDonough said Friday, “Our response to that, I think, is that Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris are still in Phoenix Suns uniforms.” […] In commenting on Knight, McDonough also added, “We feel like we got the best player in the trade, coming or going.”

“Every move we make is with the goal of getting the Phoenix Suns to a championship level,” McDonough said. “Sometimes, players view that as a good thing. I think they usually do. The good ones do. But, sometimes, players get a little selfish and are more worried about I, me and my than us, our and we.”

Dragic has lost trust in the Suns organization because they have brought in two other point guards, Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas, and reduced his playmaking role since he returned to Phoenix during free agency in 2012 to be Steve Nash’s heir apparent.

The Suns, who traded Dragic in 2011, traded for Bledsoe in 2013 when he was one of the most-sought trade commodities and created a dual-playmaker backcourt. Dragic thrived when Bledsoe missed half of the season and they ultimately found chemistry for a 48-win season. […] Dragic was content in that set-up but the addition of another starting-quality point guard in Thomas has put Dragic almost exclusively off the ball no matter if Thomas or Bledsoe are paired with him or if the Suns are in a three-point-guard lineup.

As many as eight teams have expressed interest in trading for Dragic, who has expressed his own interest in going to Indiana, Miami, New York or the Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns’ ability to make a deal will not be helped by Dragic’s stance or contract situation. Dragic will opt out of his current deal after this season and be an unrestricted free agent.

Thomas is putting up 15.2 points a night while coming off the bench in Phoenix.

Suns general manager Ryan McDonough is a former Celtics assistant GM, and has already pulled the trigger on a couple of deals with Boston this season.

Per CSNNE:

Last summer, one of the first calls made by Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge during the free agency period was to Thomas. Thomas later said Ainge and the Celtics were the first team to reach out to him during free agency, which ended with coming to terms on a four-year, $28 million sign-and-trade deal with Sacramento sending him to the Suns.

“It was an honor,” Thomas said of the call from Ainge. “Danny Ainge, the Boston Celtics, all the history here, the tradition. It was definitely an honor.”

And as far as Thomas’ impact on rookie point guard Marcus Smart, Thomas would likely be used as a high-impact scorer off the bench — a role he currently serves with the Suns while averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game — while Smart would remain with the starters.

With the Thursday trade deadline looming and the clear message now sent that Dragic plans on playing elsewhere next season, it remains to be seen if Suns general manager Ryan McDonough will succumb to the pressure and agree to a deal. According to one of the people, the Suns were given a list of seven teams with which Dragic would be willing to re-sign if traded. The Los Angeles Lakers are known to be on the list, but the Houston Rockets – who have coveted a Dragic return for quite some time now – are not.

After informing the Phoenix Suns that Goran Dragic won’t re-sign an extension this summer, agent Bill Duffy delivered the Phoenix Suns a list of preferred trade destinations that includes the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat, league sources said.

The Indiana Pacers have maintained a consistent interest with Dragic, and their need for a point guard – and ability to be a contender with the return of Paul George – makes them a destination Dragic could possibly OK, league sources said. […] Dragic, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, can dictate the terms of a trade because teams will be cautious about acquiring him unless they believe they have a chance to re-sign him in July.

​​One of the interesting things about Jesse’s story was he talked and reported on your fitness level during your NBA career. I wonder if you had the best trainers in the world today, how much better would you have been? […] “Listen, I think after I got in shape in Philly, I was in great shape. I think I was in great shape in Phoenix. My first couple of years in Houston I was pretty good and after that I started breaking down. The only regret I have is I would have been traded out of Philly sooner because my last two years there were miserable. I was going to be traded every week. I finally had enough and said I’m not playing here anymore. So I would have left Philly two years sooner. They once had me on the cover of the Sporting News one year with six different uniforms because everyone was trying to get me.”

Was there any other team than Phoenix that was close to getting you? […] “I got traded to the Lakers one day [in 1992] and they retracted the deal. […] Yeah. The Sixers backed out. It was going crazy for two weeks so I knew it would come down to Portland, [the] Lakers or Phoenix. So I get a call from my agent one morning and he said, ‘Philly has traded you to the Lakers.’ So I went to lunch and started drinking. I’m f—ing so excited that I am going to the Lakers. Three hours later I get a f—ing phone call from my agent saying that the Sixers backed out of the deal. I said, ‘Oh, s–t, I’m feeling pretty good right now.’ So I went out and played that night.”

How did you play? […] “I played pretty well. I wasn’t blasted, just a couple of drinks at lunch. I mean, I was excited to get the hell out of Philly.”

Sources said that the Rockets, who let Dragic go in free agency in the summer of 2012 but have him high on their list of free-agent targets this coming summer, are prominent among the teams hoping to engage the Suns in serious discussions about Dragic before the league’s annual trade buzzer next week.

The Los Angeles Lakers, who have also coveted Dragic for some time, are likewise presumed to be intent on testing the Suns’ resolve when it comes to their Slovenian point guard, since sources say L.A. plans to chase Dragic with an expected max four-year contract offer this summer valued at an estimated $80 million.

The Suns’ general stance in recent weeks and months has been to rebuff all trade interest in Dragic, who is widely regarded as their best player and the closest thing they have to a face of the franchise. But sources say Phoenix has likewise been trying all season to ascertain its chances of re-signing Dragic in July and might feel some pressure to consider trade options in the coming week if fears grow that it could lose Dragic without compensation in free agency.

Harden will return to the Valley next week when Arizona State retires his number. It would take something that special to top his first two 2015 visits. He downed Phoenix on a buzzer-beating shot in January and came within an assist of his fourth career triple-double Tuesday night when he added 12 rebounds and nine assists to his NBA-best sixth 40-point game this season, including two in a row.

As the Suns search for a star, Harden’s visits are reminders of how Phoenix’s pursuit of trading for Harden in 2012 came up short to Houston’s accumulated assets. […] “We don’t have the James Harden to take over the game,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He either made the bucket or made the play for his teammates and his teammates ended up knocking the shots down.”

“It’s so hard because James Harden is a difference-maker,” Suns guard Goran Dragic added.